September 2024 Utilization Report

Three out of five of our focus utilization metrics saw a decline in volumes going from August to September 2024 compared to 2020 pre-COVID baselines. Ambulatory surgery volumes presented the biggest decrease going from 1% over the baseline in August to -6% below baseline in September. Acute care admissions also went down from -14% to -17% below baseline from August to September, and psychiatric admissions follow the same pattern with a slight decrease in volumes going from -23% to -25% below baseline. Emergency Department visits and observation admissions are the two metrics with an increase in volumes going from -27% to -21% below baseline and -11% below to 2% above baseline respectively (see Fig. 1 below).

 

Psychiatric admissions continue to remain below the median in September, with a decline in volumes this month compared to the increase of the the previous two months as shown in Fig. 2 below. This is depicted in Table 7 of the report with all but one hospital showing a decrease in volumes in September 2024.