Category Archives: Firearm-Related Injuries

Firearm-related Injuries Cost US Healthcare $1B Annually

Posted on by • Posted in Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Cost Reduction, Firearm-Related Injuries, Governance, Gun Control, Gun Related Deaths, Gun Violence, Gun Violence Healthcare Costs, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Admissions, Hospital Industry, Medicaid, Medicare • Leave a comment

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In just 2020, deaths from gun violence cost the U.S. healthcare system $290 million, or about $6,400 per patient, according to a report from the Commonwealth Fund. These costs are mostly covered by Medicaid and other government insurance programs.

The U.S. healthcare system sees about 30,000 inpatient hospital stays and 50,000 emergency room visits due to gun violence each year, leading to more than $1 billion in initial medical costs, according to a new analysis.

The Commonwealth Fund published these results last week and relied on three data sources for its analysis: the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, the Small Arms Survey and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Even after leaving the hospital, patients are faced with challenges. A year after a gun injury, medical spending rises about $2,495 per person per month. In addition, those who suffer firearm injuries are more likely to form mental health challenges and substance use disorders.

“The impact of gun violence reaches far beyond the hospital room,” the analysis states.

Firearm-related deaths are increasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, almost 49,000 Americans died from firearms, compared to 45,000 in 2020.

Additional findings from the report include:

  • In 2019, the U.S. had a higher rate of firearm deaths than any other country. Its rate of firearm deaths was almost five times as much as France, the second-highest country.
  • Eight times more people in the U.S. died from firearm violence in 2019 compared to Canada, the second-highest country.
  • More people died from self-harm by firearm in the U.S. than any other country in 2019, more than three times higher than France and Switzerland.
  • More women were killed by guns in the U.S. than any other country in 2019.
  • In the U.S., there are 67 million more firearms than people. That difference is higher than the population of the United Kingdom, which has 66.2 million people.
  • In the U.S., 52% of people who are admitted to hospitals for firearm injuries are Black, 29% are White, 14% are Hispanic and 5% are another race or ethnicity. Black Americans account for 50% of firearm injury hospital costs, while White Americans account for 27%, Hispanic Americans account for 17% and other races or ethnicities account for 6%.
  • About 48% of firearm-related inpatient hospital stays are in the American South, while 20% are in the Midwest, 20% are in the West and 12% are in the Northeast. The South accounts for 44% of firearm injury hospital costs, while the West accounts for 26%, the Midwest accounts for 18% and the Northeast accounts for 11%.

Michael Dowling: ‘Every single US hospital leader should be screaming about what an abomination this is’

Posted on by • Posted in Child Gun Deaths, Children's Health, Core Values, Courage, Firearm-Related Injuries, Gun Violence, Leadership, Mortality, National Rifle Association (NRA), Public Health, Public Health Crisis, Silence, Silencing, Silencing Speech, Value • Leave a comment
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/michael-dowling-every-single-us-hospital-leader-should-be-screaming-about-what-an-abomination-this-is.html?utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter

Americans and global leaders have responded to the May 24 shooting at a Texas elementary school with heartbreak, anger and calls for change to better fight gun violence. But if you’re paying attention, the calls out of healthcare — from trauma surgeons, pediatricians, nurses, leaders and more — carry a distinct type of exasperation and sorrow. 

“I’m in one of my hospitals now, sitting with some staff talking about it — it’s just so frustrating,” Michael Dowling, president and CEO of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, told me over the phone early Wednesday morning. “This does not represent what the United States stands for — that we allow people who should never be allowed to carry a gun to do so and walk into a school and kill fourth graders.”

The attack by a lone 18-year-old gunman at Robb Elementary School in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, has left at least 19 students and two adults dead. Students in the school, grades 2 through 4, were two days away from summer vacation. 

Unlike many other known threats to our health, seeing the medical community condemn mass shootings still seems to leave some Americans doing a double take. It’s increasingly difficult to see what has them confused. 

In 2016, the American Medical Association declared gun violence a public health crisis after a lone gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Even after the declaration, healthcare professionals and leaders continued to defy insistence from gun rights advocates that gun violence was not within their specialty or expertise. Or as the National Rifle Association put it in simpler terms in 2018: “Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane.” The #ThisIsOurLane movement started then. The attempt to silence medical professionals ironically made their calls for action louder.

As healthcare professionals responded to the ongoing public health emergency of COVID-19, the arms race grew and gun buying intensified — “a surge in purchasing unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” as one gun researcher at the University of California, Davis, put it. People who already owned guns bought more, and people who had never owned a gun bought them too. In 2020, firearm-related injuries were the No. 1 cause of death of children and teens, according to the CDC. 

Every day, 321 people are shot in the United States, and more than 40,000 Americans die from gun violence each year. Yet some healthcare executives still fear that taking the position that gun violence is a public health crisis will throw them into political turmoil given how toxic politics are in this country. It’s one position for the AMA and its 250,000-plus members to take, but another for an individual leader who may be the face of an organization in their community. There are risks of offending board members, donors, elected officials and other constituents ⁠— including patients. But here’s the thing: There will always be a reason to delay, to soften language, to wonder if this mass shooting is the one to react to.

Mr. Dowling urges his colleagues to step it up, noting how hospital and health system leaders can be ambassadors for gun safety in their communities, given the influence they wield as the largest employers in many communities.

“This is about protecting people’s health. This is about protecting kids’ lives. Have some courage. Stand up and do something,” he said. “Put the interest of the community in the center of what you think about each and every day. Our job is to save lives and prevent people from illness and death. Gun violence is not an issue on the outside — it’s a central public health issue for us. Every single hospital leader in the United States should be standing up and screaming about what an abomination this is.

“If you were hesitant about getting involved the day before May 24, May 24 should have changed your perspective. It’s time.”

Northwell established The Gun Violence Prevention Learning Collaborative for Health Systems and Hospitals, a grassroots initiative that gives healthcare professionals the space to have open dialogue about the impact of gun violence, share best practices and collectively take action. Learn more here.