Source
The Journal of Emergency Medicine
http://www.jem-journal.com/
Peer-Reviewed Article
April 2016
A retrospective cohort study examined the health care utilization of a group of patients in Memphis, Tennessee who met the enrollment criteria for the SafeMed Program, a care transitions program focused on reducing hospital readmissions and health care costs.
- The program was open to adult patients with Medicaid and/or Medicare, multiple chronic conditions, and multiple hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits within a six-month period.
- Researchers followed the cohort, tracking hospitalizations and ED visits in the 12 months following the six months of high health care use.
- In the 12-month period, the cohort of patients had a mean of 3.2 hospitalizations and 2.8 ED visits without hospitalization. Although these patients had at least two chronic conditions, 46 percent said they did not have a primary care provider.
- The study authors concluded that patients with a history of high health care utilization may continue to use expensive health care services, and may be a good target for intervention.
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