The future role of the Emergency Room [View All]

[Horse with no Name]

this is scary considering how many people do not have access to any other healthcare when they get sick.

http://www.herald-democrat.com/articles/2007/04/18/local_news/news01.txt

Wilson N. Jones began a policy April 5 that greets those who come into the emergency room with an admissions screening team. The triage team consists of a registered nurse and a physician’s assistant. Those who need the high-level services of the emergency room are admitted there. Those whose conditions are not truly emergencies or urgent get a list of five area clinics they can visit. This screening process allows the emergency department staff to focus their efforts on the urgent, emergent and trauma patients, WNJ said in a press release earlier this month.

“Many do not realize the number of patients who access the emergency room for non-urgent, primary care services,” said WNJ President and CEO Pat Flynn.

“This is the most expensive location to receive primary medical care. We hope by directing these patients to a local medical clinic, they will be able to be seen more quickly and at a lower cost to the patient.”

Other hospitals, including Bonham’s Red River Regional Hospital and Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, already enforce this policy, said Cathy Black, WNJ’s community outreach coordinator.

In a telephone interview, Donna Upchurch, director of WNJ’s Emergency Department, explained, “We use the concept of team triage, where we have a qualified registered nurse as well as a physician’s assistant or physician in there who are screening the patients who come into the emergency room. Sometimes, majority of the time, some patients have actually been seen, treated and sent home from our triage area, so they don’t ever have to get to the back, which is very satisfying for those patients.”