Posted on 06/15/2015 1:08:34 AM PDT by Olog-hai
No one wants to make a repeat visit to the emergency room for the same complaint, but new research suggests it’s more common than previously thought and surprisingly, people frequently wind up at a different ER the second time around.
Already some ERs are taking steps to find out why and try to prevent unnecessary returns. A Philadelphia hospital, for example, is beginning to test video calls and other steps to link discharged patients to primary care.
The new research, based on records in six states, suggests patients should be pushy about getting follow-up care so they don’t have to return to crowded emergency departments. […]
It’s also a reminder of how disconnected our health care system is. Chances are, your primary care doctor won’t know you made an ER visit unless you call about what to do next. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
How disconnected? Every time I have gone to the ER at discharge the doctor or nurse always tells me to follow up with my PCP within 24 hours. Is it so hard for a person to take control of their own health?
They go for follow up treatment to a new ER because they either don’t have insurance or they have difficulty getting or just cannot get an appointment with a doctor in private practice.
If it’s another “emergency” pretext, they have to be looked at.
Sometimes based your insurance or lack of it, getting that external appointment can be difficult or impossible.
That’s useless advice if you are in the ER because you don’t have a primary care doctor and want/need free care by the state.
“”Wasn’t Obama bragging about repeat visits to ERs being down a while back?””
Here’s a crusade for his “better (?)half” - wasn’t it her job for the huge salary she was being paid at the U of Chicago hospital to see to it that ER patients were shuttled off to a facility other than the one they originally chose to go to? She can give up gardening and healthy eating and take this on. There you go, Michelle - we’ll never get enough of you. UGH!
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