The initiative consisted of transporting low-acuity or BLS calls to immediate appropriate quality care in an urgent care center while ameliorating the EMS system and preventing avoidable ER visits. In this article we discuss how an innovative federal qualified health center facility (Providence Community Health Centers) managed to create a program mobile health unit” in collaboration with state health insurance (Neighborhood Health Plan of RI) and the city department. When a patient calling 911 is identified as having a non-emergency condition or complaint, the crew will assess the patient in the field, communicate with a registered nurse at an urgent care center, and may transport the patient to the facility instead of the ED. Two lieutenants from the PFD were assigned to the Mobile Health Unit starting late August in 2019. The implementation of the Mobile Health Unit initiative provides patients who have non-life-threatening conditions the opportunity to receive immediate care in an appropriate ambulatory care setting (urgent care) while freeing up the EMS system to respond to severe/life-threatening emergencies. About 39 calls qualified as BLS are received in a period of 24 hours. The Providence (RI) Fire Department receives approximately 33,000 medical-related calls in a year, of which 7,500 are dispatched as basic life support (BLS) and approximately 14,000 are transported and billed as BLS calls. This could reduce ED utilization for nonemergent conditions while also reducing overall healthcare cost without affecting patient satisfaction. 3 Initiatives to explore how patients with low-acuity conditions can be transported to a more appropriate setting such as urgent care instead of a hospital ED should be considered. There is evidence showing patients using the emergency room for complaints that could be treated in settings that represent a cost-effective environment (including urgent care or patient-centered medical homes). 1Įmergency departments are overused in multiple ways-varying levels of severity including acute conditions, acute on chronic illnesses, mental health, substance abuse, and prescription refills, among others. Volatility and continuously rising costs in the United States healthcare system have created a marketplace in which urgent care centers can play an essential role by helping to reduce cost, increase patient satisfaction, and improve outcomes.Īt the same time, overwhelmed emergency departments need help in minimizing low-acuity/unnecessary usage while reducing cost and assisting in health disparities.Īccording to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), healthcare spending is expected to increase to 19.4% from 17.9% in the next 7 years, giving UCCs the opportunity to step up in cost-reducing actions. Reducing low-acuity preventable emergency room visits by utilizing urgent care center services via mobile health unit diversion program. The creation of a mobile health diversion program to transport low acuity conditions to urgent care instead of a hospital emergency department can improve population health and reduce healthcare cost providing the opportunity to leverage value-based care by targeting the triple aim (reducing cost, increasing patient satisfaction, and improving outcomes) while freeing up the emergency medical system services.Ĭitation: Jaramillo CM. Urgent message: Urgent care centers can execute and implement innovative ideas to ameliorate overcrowded Emergency Rooms.
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