MPRC faculty associate works with Maryland hospitals to provide better continuity of care for vulnerable populations
An intervention to connect low-income uninsured and Medicaid patients to a reliable source of primary health care shows promise for reducing avoidable use of hospital emergency departments in Maryland. MPRC faculty associate Karoline Mortensen and her colleagues Theresa Kim and Barbara Eldridge published the results of their study this week in the journal Health Affairs.
Use of hospital emergency departments is on the rise in the United States, particularly among low-income patients who face barriers to accessing health care outside of hospitals including not having an identifiable primary health care provider. Almost half of emergency room visits are considered “avoidable”. Dr. Mortensen and her colleagues are working on a way to change that.
Using "patient navigators," individuals trained to help patients find the care they need and can afford, the five hospitals involved in the project referred more than 10,000 low-income, uninsured and Medicaid patients who visited emergency departments to four local primary care clinics, with the goal of encouraging them to establish an ongoing relationship with the clinic and reduce their reliance on costly emergency department care. The initiative has proven successful in Montgomery County, Maryland and is being replicated in communities in other parts of the country.
"Our study found that uninsured patients with chronic health issues - such as those suffering from hypertension, diabetes, asthma, COPD, congestive heart failure, depression or anxiety—relied less on the emergency department after they were linked to a local health clinic for ongoing care," says Dr. Karoline Mortensen. "Connecting patients to primary care and expanding the availability of these safety-net clinics could reduce emergency department visits and provide better continuity of care for vulnerable populations."