Benz J R, Shank J C
J Fam Pract. 1982 Dec;15(6):1135-9.
A patient education program was instituted that emphasized the importance of telephoning the physician prior to making an emergency room visit and defined an inappropriate visit in simple terms. The purpose of the program was to reduce the percentage of nonurgent or inappropriate emergency room visits each month. A total of 3,825 emergency room visits were reviewed. The percentage of inappropriate visits dropped from 29 percent in the control period to 18 percent in the patient education period (P less than or equal to .001). This included significant decreases in the four major reimbursement groups: self-paying (P less than or equal to .005), group insurance (P less than or equal to .001), Medical Assistance (P less than or equal .01), and Medicare (P less than or equal to .01). Also during the patient education period there was a trend toward increased telephone calls prior to emergency room visits.
启动了一项患者教育计划，该计划强调在前往急诊室就诊前致电医生的重要性，并用简单的语言定义了不适当的就诊情况。该计划的目的是降低每月非紧急或不适当急诊室就诊的百分比。总共对3825次急诊室就诊进行了审查。不适当就诊的百分比从对照期的29%降至患者教育期的18%（P≤0.001）。这包括四个主要报销群体的显著下降：自费患者（P≤0.005）、团体保险患者（P≤0.001）、医疗救助患者（P≤0.01）和医疗保险患者（P≤0.01）。同样在患者教育期间，急诊室就诊前打电话的次数有增加的趋势。
