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HWN Suggests

The Allure of the One-Stop Shop

Perhaps you've heard about the guy who is wrecking the American health care system. He is uninsured, has no major medical problems, and loves the emergency room. He is said to stroll in about once a month to various E.R.s around town for reasons as diverse as a simple cold or an STD check. He usually asks a doctor to excuse him from work and complains if he doesn't get a prescription for narcotic pain medication. The cost of his medical care is unnecessarily high because for his complaints, the E.R. is more expensive than a doctor's office would be. But our legendary visitor doesn't have a primary-care doctor: Why should he, since everything he needs is at the local E.R.?

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  Has Coronavirus Solved America’s ER Overuse Problem?

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the number people visiting emergency rooms (ER) has dropped significantly. Emergency room overcrowding due to non-emergencies once seemed like an intractable problem with no easy solution. Now many are wondering where all the patients have gone.

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Dear America, You Need To Be Nice

But what you need to know, America, is that in the ER you don’t ever want to be first. First means you have a chance of not walking out of those double doors. First means that your family may not see you again.

How Non-Emergency ER Visits Skyrocket Health Care Costs

Most of us know that the ER is far from the most efficient place to get care. But when only 11% of visits to the emergency room result in a hospital admission it’s pretty clear there’s a problem when non-emergency ER visits.

How to Solve the E.R. Problem

The answer probably lies in what has become a buzz phrase in health care: patient engagement. Changing behavior is very hard. It can’t be accomplished just by providing insurance or a wellness program and wishing people good luck. Indeed, Mr. Obama overstated how easily expanding insurance would reduce emergency room use.

Medicaid Expansion Drives Up Visits to ER

The new Medicaid recipients used ERs more often for all kinds of health issues, including problems that could have been treated in doctors' offices during business hours, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science. Earlier studies had found the same patients used more of other medical services as well.

Strategies for Reducing Emergency Department Overuse

Access to healthcare through the emergency department presents an avenue for people not necessarily suffering from the life- and limb-threatening conditions such departments are designed to address. Overuse leads to needless expense, crowding and reductions in access to those in true need. Several entities have come up with suggestions to reduce inappropriate ED visits.

With Nowhere To Turn, More Psychiatric Patients Are Ending Up In The ER

“ERs are the de facto dumping ground for psychiatric patients."