Leaders at high-volume emergency departments are finding new ways to eliminate care gaps while reducing unnecessary visits.
Jeffery Metzger, MD, chief of emergency services at Dallas-based Parkland Health, said less than 10% of the system's intakes are for nonemergency care. Parkland has a system for helping patients transition into primary care by connecting them with their acute response clinic resource base. Through this process, Parkland arranges an appointment at a local clinic and helps the patient determine how they will make it to that appointment.
"It's a sort of bridge for patients until they get into a primary care provider," Dr. Metzger told Becker's.
Parkland has a similar system for patients who come to the emergency department for non-medical needs, such as shelter or socializing.
"We have a committee that focuses on identifying those patients, figuring out what they need and getting them the resources they need," Dr. Metzger said.
Jimmy Lao, MSN, RN, director of nursing for Reno, Nev.-based Renown Regional's emergency department, said the system utilizes telehealth and outpatient services to reduce volume while providing care. It also has created a "complex discharge committee" that reviews discharges to ensure the right plan of care is provided to patients in an effort to prevent readmission.
Renown also utilizes a bed placement and transfer command center designed to ensure that "patients are getting to the right place and receiving the right services they need."
Nilesh Patel, DO, chair of emergency medicine at Patterson, N.J.-based St. Joseph's University Medical Center, told Becker's it focuses on continuous education of patients and the community to encourage use of urgent care centers. St. Joseph's also offers a clinic system and primary care network with expanded and weekend hours to accommodate working families.
"Ensuring that patients receive the appropriate outpatient follow-up care after an emergency department visit is essential to preventing a return trip," Dr. Patel said. "Our team includes navigators in the emergency department to help connect patients to primary care physicians and to resources for their continued health."
Learn how these hospitals manage growing emergency department volume here.