Care Coordination
This quarter, Urgent Matters takes on care coordination which remains a priority in healthcare due to the potential it has to improve patient care and outcomes. The emergency department struggles with how to provide patients with the most efficient care and guide patients into the healthcare system.
In this issue, we take an inside look at the ACEP Cost-Effective Task Force convened to shed light on which ED practices might be “overused.” We also follow up with Dr. Joseph DeLucia on community paramedicine and the different models of care that have been evolving away from the traditional EMS response model. Finally, the Society of Emergency Medicine Physician Assistants gives an overview of the best practices in vertical patient flow to address the continuing issue of ED overcrowding.
Case Study: Cost-Effective Care Task Force
Like many health care organizations, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has studied issues pertaining to the development of strategies to identify “cost-effective” medical care. In the first quarter of 2012, the ACEP Board of Directors convened a Cost-Effective Care Task Force. The goal of the task force is to evaluate methodology in which practices in emergency department care might be considered “overused,” thereby increasing affordability without sacrificing quality of care for our patients. Read More >>
Best Practices: Vertical Patient Flow and ED Overcrowding
Although emergency department overcrowding has been recognized as a significant problem for both EDs and the hospitals in which they function, some progress has been made to address this trend. ED overcrowding continues to disproportionately burden academic and urban medical centers. Read More >>
Innovations: What is Community Paramedicine?
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, community paramedicine is an organized system of services, based on local need, provided by emergency medical technicians and paramedics, which is integrated into the local or regional health care system and overseen by emergency and primary care physicians. Read More >>
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