Impact of Superstorm Sandy on Medicare Patients’ Utilization of Hospitals and Emergency Departments

National health security requires that healthcare facilities be prepared to provide rapid, effective emergency and trauma care to all patients affected by a catastrophic event. We sought to quantify changes in healthcare utilization patterns for an at-risk Medicare population before, during, and after Superstorm Sandy's 2012 landfall in New Jersey (NJ).This study is a retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries impacted by Superstorm...