The impact of urgent care centers on nonemergent emergency department visits

The use of emergency departments for non-emergent issues has led to overcrowding and decreased the quality of care. Telemedicine may be a mechanism to decrease overutilization of this expensive resource. From April to September 2020, we assessed (a) the impact of a multi-center tele-urgent care program on emergency department referral rates and (b) the proportion of individuals who had a subsequent emergency department visit within 72 h of tele-urgent care evaluation when they were not referred to the emergency department. We then performed a chart review to assess whether patients presented to the emergency department for the same reason as was stated for their tele-urgent care evaluation, whether subsequent hospitalization was needed during that emergency department visit, and whether death occurred. Among the 2510 patients who would have been referred to in-person emergency department care, but instead received tele-urgent care assessment, one in five (21%; n = 533) were subsequently referred to the emergency department. Among those not referred following tele-urgent care, 1 in 10 (11%; n = 162) visited the emergency department within 72 h. Among these 162 individuals, most (91%) returned with the same or similar complaint as what was assessed during their tele-urgent care visit, with one in five requiring hospitalization (19%, n = 31) with one individual (0.01%) dying. In conclusion, tele-urgent care may safely decrease emergency department utilization.

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Measuring the impact of an acute visiting scheme on emergency department attendances – a pre-post cohort design

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/s12913-021-06557-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Axel Kaehne ◽

Paula Keating

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

Service Use ◽

Emergency Department Visits ◽

Service Utilisation ◽

Specific Patient ◽

Access Points ◽

Latent Demand ◽

Frequent Attenders ◽

Cohort Design ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Emergency department (ED) attendances are contributing to rising costs of the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Critically assessing the impact of new services to reduce emergency department use can be difficult as new services may create additional access points, unlocking latent demand. The study evaluated an Acute Visiting Scheme (AVS) in a primary care context. We asked if AVS reduces overall ED demand and whether or not it changed utilisation patterns for frequent attenders. Method The study used a pre post single cohort design. The impact of AVS on all-cause ED attendances was hypothesised as a substitution effect, where AVS duty doctor visits would replace emergency department visits. Primary outcome was frequency of ED attendances. End points were reduction of frequency of service use and increase of intervals between attendances by frequent attenders. Results ED attendances for AVS users rose by 47.6%. If AVS use was included, there was a more than fourfold increase of total service utilisation, amounting to 438.3%. It shows that AVS unlocked significant latent demand. However, there was some reduction in the frequency of ED attendances for some patients and an increase in time intervals between ED attendances for others. Conclusion The study demonstrates that careful analysis of patient utilisation can detect a differential impact of AVS on the use of ED. As the new service created additional access points for patients and hence introduces an element of choice, the new service is likely to unlock latent demand. This study illustrates that AVS may be most useful if targeted at specific patient groups who are most likely to benefit from the new service.

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Different levels of care for follow-up of adults with congenital heart disease: a cost analysis scrutinizing the impact on medical costs, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits

The European Journal of Health Economics ◽

10.1007/s10198-021-01300-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ruben Willems ◽

◽

Fouke Ombelet ◽

Eva Goossens ◽

Katya De Groote ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

Congenital Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Cost Analysis ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Emergency Department Visits ◽

Levels Of Care ◽

The Impact ◽

Different Levels

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Finding the path of least resistance: Locally adapting the MITIGATE toolkit in emergency departments and urgent care centers

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1017/ice.2020.1394 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Joanne Huang ◽

Zahra Kassamali Escobar ◽

Todd S. Bouchard ◽

Jose Mari G. Lansang ◽

Rupali Jain ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Emergency Department ◽

Antimicrobial Stewardship ◽

Emergency Departments ◽

Urgent Care ◽

Complex Data ◽

University Of Washington ◽

Primary Care Clinics ◽

Urgent Care Centers ◽

The University

Abstract The MITIGATE toolkit was developed to assist urgent care and emergency departments in the development of antimicrobial stewardship programs. At the University of Washington, we adopted the MITIGATE toolkit in 10 urgent care centers, 9 primary care clinics, and 1 emergency department. We encountered and overcame challenges: a complex data build, choosing feasible outcomes to measure, issues with accurate coding, and maintaining positive stewardship relationships. Herein, we discuss solutions to challenges we encountered to provide guidance for those considering using this toolkit.

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Interrupted time series design to evaluate ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM coding changes on trends in Colorado emergency department visits related to traumatic brain injury

Injury Epidemiology ◽

10.1186/s40621-021-00308-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lauren Alexis De Crescenzo ◽

Barbara Alison Gabella ◽

Jewell Johnson

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Emergency Department ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Interrupted Time Series ◽

Emergency Department Visits ◽

Control And Prevention ◽

Icd 10 ◽

Ed Visits ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background The transition in 2015 to the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Disease, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) in the US led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to propose a surveillance definition of traumatic brain injury (TBI) utilizing ICD-10-CM codes. The CDC’s proposed surveillance definition excludes “unspecified injury of the head,” previously included in the ICD-9-CM TBI surveillance definition. The study purpose was to evaluate the impact of the TBI surveillance definition change on monthly rates of TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits in Colorado from 2012 to 2017. Results The monthly rate of TBI-related ED visits was 55.6 visits per 100,000 persons in January 2012. This rate in the transition month to ICD-10-CM (October 2015) decreased by 41 visits per 100,000 persons (p-value < 0.0001), compared to September 2015, and remained low through December 2017, due to the exclusion of “unspecified injury of head” (ICD-10-CM code S09.90) in the proposed TBI definition. The average increase in the rate was 0.33 visits per month (p < 0.01) prior to October 2015, and 0.04 visits after. When S09.90 was included in the model, the monthly TBI rate in Colorado remained smooth from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM and the transition was no longer significant (p = 0.97). Conclusion The reduction in the monthly TBI-related ED visit rate resulted from the CDC TBI surveillance definition excluding unspecified head injury, not necessarily the coding transition itself. Public health practitioners should be aware that the definition change could lead to a drastic reduction in the magnitude and trend of TBI-related ED visits, which could affect decisions regarding the allocation of TBI resources. This study highlights a challenge in creating a standardized set of TBI ICD-10-CM codes for public health surveillance that provides comparable yet clinically relevant estimates that span the ICD transition.

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