Here are six capacity management findings from the past month, beginning with the most recent.
1. Hospital admissions for specialist care may be reduced if appropriate alternatives are available, according to a study in Emergency Medicine Journal.
2. Community paramedicine, a community-based healthcare model in which paramedics have expanded roles, can help reduce inappropriate emergency department visits, according to a report by the Institute for Population Health Improvement at Sacramento, Calif.-based UC Davis Health System.
3. Patients with low socioeconomic status enrolled in a high-deductible health plan may skip needed emergency care due to high out-of-pocket costs, which may lead to higher rates of hospitalization, according to a study in Health Affairs.
4. Wait times in the emergency department predicted the rate at which patients left the ED in fewer than four hours, according to a study in Emergency Medicine Journal.
5. Initiatives that target Medicaid "super-utilizers" — patients with complex, unaddressed health issues who frequently visit healthcare providers — have shown early promise in reducing costs as well as improving care and wellness, according to CMS.
6. Emergency department patients with low health literacy have fewer physician office visits and prefer ED care more than their health literate counterparts, according to a study in Medical Care.