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Patients’ Sense of UrgencyNot ConvenienceContributes to Much ED UsePrivately Insured Patients’ Perceptions of Medical Severity and Who They First Contact for Help or Advice Strongly Associated with Decision to Seek Emergency CareNews Release FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Many privately insured people with an urgent medical problem go to hospital emergency departments even though they could be treated safely and at a lower cost elsewhere. Understanding why privately insured patients decide to seek care in EDs rather than other settings can help purchasers and payers safely guide patients to less-costly care. Patients’ perception of the severity of their medical problem and who they first contact for help or advice are the factors most associated with whether they seek emergency care, according to the HSC study based on NIHCR’s 2012 Autoworker Health Care Survey, which had a 64.2 percent response rate. The survey of 8,836 active and retired nonelderly autoworkers and spouseswhile not nationally representativeprovides a unique opportunity to examine why privately insured people decide to go to emergency departments when faced with an urgent medical problem. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) reported having an urgent medical problem in the three months before the survey, and almost half (44%) of those with an urgent condition ultimately went to an emergency department for treatment. Of people with an urgent problem, nearly half first contacted their regular source of caretypically a primary care clinicianand those patients were less likely to go to emergency departments, the study found. “When privately insured people have an urgent medical problem and cannot access their usual physician as quickly as they believe necessary, they frequently will go to hospital emergency departments,” said HSC Senior Researcher Emily Carrier, M.D., coauthor of the study with HSC Research Analyst Ellyn R. Boukus, M.A. “The findings indicate timely access to primary care clinicians and lower-cost settings that can provide a moderate intensity of care and urgent response time likely could reduce emergency department use.” Only rarely did respondents cite convenience as a reason for choosing ED care. Moreover, people who reported that their primary doctor offered rapid access to advice and visits were significantly less likely to use emergency departments and instead relied on their primary clinician for urgent medical needs. However, despite their relatively comprehensive health coverage, the majority of respondents indicated they lacked this level of primary care access. The study’s findings are detailed in a new HSC Research BriefPrivately Insured People’s Use of Emergency Departments: Perception of Urgency is Reality for Patientsavailable online at www.hschange.org/CONTENT/1399/. Key findings include:
• Relatively few people cited convenience as a factor in deciding to go to an emergency department. About 7 percent indicated using an ED was driven partially by convenience, but less than 2.5 percent cited convenience as the sole reason for choosing an ED. • About one in four people (24.8%) reported their doctor’s office was closed when they needed help, and close to a quarter (24.1 %) indicated their physician instructed them to go to an emergency department.
The Center for Studying Health System Change is a nonpartisan policy research organization committed to providing objective and timely research on the nation's changing health system to help inform policy makers and contribute to better health care policy. HSC, based in Washington, D.C., is affiliated with Mathematica Policy Research.
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