How are hot temperatures impacting health outcomes, health systems and health systems costs?

This paper explores the relationship between high temperatures and emergency department visits and hospitalisations. It uses hospital data from 16 OECD countries and is believed to be the first study to link hospital data with high frequency and localised temperature data across multiple countries. Beyond the impact of high temperatures on excess hospitalisations and emergency department visits, it further estimates the potential direct hospital-related costs of high temperatures, as well as the productivity losses associated with these hospital visits. It finds that both emergency department visits and hospital admissions linked to heat-sensitive conditions have increased over the past decade to varying degrees across the countries studied.