News

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Patricia Donovan
Voice: 732.528.4468
Fax: 732.292.3073
E-mail: pdonovan@hin.com
Web site: www.hin.com

Strategies to Increase Primary Care Access and Efficiency:
Reducing Reliance on Emergency Rooms

Primary care physicians (PCPs) are struggling to provide quality care and devote adequate time to patients in the face of reduced reimbursements and increased reporting. It’s a scenario that frustrates patients, who increasingly turn to emergency departments (EDs) for primary care when the PCP is unavailable.

April 30, 2007

NEWS FACTS

• Ensuring adequate access to primary care plays a pivotal role in reducing unnecessary emergency room visits — but with primary care shortages and the growing number of uninsured, healthcare organizations are challenged to ensure patient and member accessibility to primary care. Three industry experts who have engaged their respective organizations in sustainable partnerships for increasing access to primary care will share their strategies during a May 16, 2007 audio conference sponsored by the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN).
  
  
• During Strategies to Increase Primary Care Access and Use, these pioneers in primary care access will examine innovative strategies that increase primary care access. Get conference details.
  
  
• Scheduled speakers: Presenting are Margaret Brennan, administrator for the Primary Care Access Network with Orange County Government; Maureen Kersmarki, board chair of the Primary Care Access Network for Florida Hospital; and Christopher Wise, administrative director of the Medical Management Center at the University of Michigan Health System. Moderated by Melanie Matthews, HIN executive vice president and chief operating officer.
  
  
• Conference highlights: How to develop community partnerships that yield increased access to primary care; how the Primary Care Access Network in Orange County, Florida has grown from 5,000 uninsured patients to 80,000 — and from two clinics to 11 — with the same annual budget; and how to create no- or low-cost ways to improve primary care efficiencies and enhance patient satisfaction.
  
  
• Target Audience: CEOs, medical directors, disease management directors, managers and coordinators, health plan executives, care management nurses, business development and strategic planning directors.
  
  
• Audio Conference formats: 90-minute live audio conference on May 16, 2007 includes a 30-minute Q&A; “On-Demand” re-broadcast available May 18, 2007; 90-minute recording on CD-ROM with printed transcript available May 31, 2007. Conference details.
  
  
• About the Healthcare Intelligence Network -- HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. Contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit http://www.hin.com

QUOTES ATTRIBUTABLE TO MELANIE MATTHEWS, HIN EXECUTIVE VP AND COO:

Click here for Melanie Matthews's profile.

• "Redefining primary care will go a long way toward reducing the nearly 41 million annual visits to emergency rooms that the National Center for Health Statistics has identified as unnecessary.”
  
  
• "In our recent e-survey, some hospitals told HIN they are reexamining compensation models to prevent doctors from fleeing family medicine for the financial and lifestyle rewards of specialty medicine. This PCP exodus forces many specialists to provide primary care at inflated costs."

Download HIN white paper -- "Prescription for Primary Care: Initiatives for Change"

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