Wexler Randell, Hefner Jennifer L, Sieck Cynthia, Taylor Christopher A, Lehman Jennifer, Panchal Ashish R, Aldrich Alison, McAlearney Ann Scheck
From the Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine (RW, JLH, CS, CAT, JL, AA, ASM), the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (CAT), the Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine (ARP), and the Division of Health Services Management and Policy, College of Public Health (ASM), The Ohio State University, Columbus.
J Am Board Fam Med. 2015 Nov-Dec;28(6):722-32. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2015.06.150044.
Inappropriate emergency department (ED) use among Medicaid enrollees is considered a problem because of cost. We developed and evaluated a system change innovation designed to remove system barriers to primary care access for Medicaid patients.
Patients who presented to the ED without an identified primary care provider were randomized to the intervention (n = 72) or comparison group (n = 68) for a 12-month study designed to connect these patients to primary care offices. Evaluation was mixed quantitative/qualitative.
Significantly more intervention participants attended at least 1 primary care visit 3 months after the intervention (odds ratio [OR], 2.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-6.02), though this difference was not significant by 12 months (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 0.79-3.84). The intervention participants also did not have lower odds of returning to the ED for nonurgent reasons by the 12-month follow-up (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.65-2.48). Patient-reported barriers to attending a primary care appointment were primarily social and health system-related factors.
The intervention did not decrease ED visits nor increase primary care use over the 12 months of the study period. The qualitative results provide insight into nonurgent ED utilization by patients with Medicaid, suggesting potential future interventions.
由于成本问题,医疗补助计划参保者在急诊科(ED)的不当使用被视为一个问题。我们开发并评估了一项系统变革创新措施,旨在消除医疗补助患者获得初级医疗服务的系统障碍。
对于那些在急诊科就诊但未确定初级医疗服务提供者的患者,在一项为期12个月的研究中,将他们随机分为干预组(n = 72)或对照组(n = 68),该研究旨在将这些患者与初级医疗办公室联系起来。评估采用定量和定性相结合的方式。
干预组中显著更多的参与者在干预后3个月至少进行了1次初级医疗就诊(优势比[OR],2.52;95%置信区间[CI],1.06 - 6.02),不过到12个月时这种差异并不显著(OR,1.74;95% CI,0.79 - 3.84)。在12个月的随访中,干预组参与者因非紧急原因返回急诊科的几率也没有降低(OR,1.27;95% CI,0.65 - 2.48)。患者报告的参加初级医疗预约的障碍主要是社会和卫生系统相关因素。
在研究期间的12个月内,该干预措施既没有减少急诊科就诊次数,也没有增加初级医疗服务的使用。定性结果为了解医疗补助患者非紧急情况下急诊科的使用情况提供了见解,提示了未来可能的干预措施。