TY  - JOUR
T1  - EMergency department use by primary care patients at a safety-net hospital
AU  - Lasser KE, Kronman AC, Cabral H, Samet JH
Y1  - 2012/02/13
N1  - 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.709
JO  - Archives of Internal Medicine
SP  - 278
EP  - 280
VL  - 172
IS  - 3
N2  - 
In fee-for-service payment models, there are strong financial incentives for hospitals to tolerate high levels of emergency department (ED) use, including use by established primary care patients. Yet, as health care reform introduces global payment models, high levels of ED use will no longer be financially tenable. Understanding the magnitude of the problem of ED use by established primary care patients is crucial to redesigning primary care delivery and reimbursement in the United States. We had 2 objectives: (1) to characterize ED use at an urban safety-net hospital after the implementation of Massachusetts health reform, focusing on patients who had primary care providers (PCPs) and (2) to identify patterns of ED use that might inform the hospital-based primary care practices' transformation to a medical home, and eventually, to an accountable care organization.

SN  - 0003-9926
M3  - doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.709
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.709
ER  -