Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Reducing Non-Urgent Emergency Room Use: Intervening to Offset Inappropriate Visits

Manasquan, N.J., USA, September 26, 2006 – A strategy as simple as teaching patients not to call their doctor at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon can reduce unnecessary emergency room (ER) utilization, a trend that is sapping the resources of ERs around the nation. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 55 percent of the 90 million visits to ERs in the United States in 1996 were unnecessary. In healthcare dollars, that means that 40.5 million people paid up to three times as much for routine care at the ER as they would have paid at a physician's office.

Teaching timely access to outpatient care is just one tactic that will be addressed during “Non-Urgent Emergency Room Usage: Proven Ways to Redirect Care to Appropriate Settings,” a live interactive audio conference on October 18, 2006. Sponsored by the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN), the 90-minute audio conference will provide a blueprint for health plans and providers desiring to address and reduce unnecessary ER utilization in their populations. For more information, please visit the HIN site.

“Consumer awareness is a key factor in discouraging patients from choosing the ER when a visit to their primary care physician will suffice,” notes Melanie Matthews, HIN executive vice president and chief operating officer. “With the proper program design and staffing, providers can determine likely candidates for inappropriate ER usage and target educational efforts toward these individuals.”

Participants in the October 18, 2006 audio conference will hear from two organizations that have had success in diminishing unnecessary ER use, preserving the service for truly urgent cases. During the 90-minute audio conference, Roberta Burgess, clinical case manager, Community Care Plan of Eastern Carolina, and Jerry Kiplinger, executive director, APS Healthcare, will discuss how to target unnecessary and inappropriate use of the ER.

Participants will get details on how to:

• Create patient education programs that truly educate on when ER use is appropriate;
• Use nurse lines to potentially redirect unnecessary ER use;
• Determine how different populations – Medicare, Medicaid and commercial – use the ER and what that means for reducing inappropriate use;
• Develop a health plan design that discourages unnecessary ER usage; and
• Identify members who might inappropriately use the ER and intervene before they do so.

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Contact: Patricia Donovan

Voice: (888) HIN-3530
Fax: (732) 292-3073
E-mail: pdonovan@hin.com
Web site: www.hin.com