Geisinger’s Post

Choosing the right place for treatment an emergency room (ER), a usual doctor, or an urgent care center can be tricky. Understanding when to go to urgent care sites gets you the right help promptly and saves money. We’ll outline when to go to urgent care, how it differs from the ER, its advantages, and how to make the most of your visit. Click on the link below for more information!

Informative article on the rise of Freestanding Emergency Departments (FSEDs). Unlike urgent care centers, which are cheaper and less equipped, FSEDs handle serious medical issues with emergency physicians on staff. These facilities ease hospital crowding and provide convenient access to care, especially in busy or underserved areas. However, confusion about their services can lead to unexpectedly high costs for patients. Read more: https://bit.ly/4fymiUB.

Emergency Rooms across the country continue to contend with overcrowding, short staffing, and combative patients and family members, often leaving EMS crews no place to transfer patients. Learn more about how hospitals on the local level are exploring alternative solutions so patients can receive the care that they need. #EmergencyRoomCrisis #HealthcareChallenges #PatientCare

With observation rooms, MRI/CT scanners and Operating Theatres supported by Specialist Emergency Physicians, our urgent care centre is even better equipped than some of the public alternatives described in the ST article. And our consult charges are only S$90 to boot. If only mainstream health insurers would reimburse private Urgent Care Centres for the work that we do, then more patients could be effectively decanted from the overwhelmed public hospitals. #healthcareinsurance #urgentcare #StarMed #emergencymedicine

Mass General Brigham's Home Hospital Emergency Care program is a prime example of the growing trend of hospital-at-home initiatives. By providing emergency and urgent care services in the comfort of patients' homes, the program not only improves patient experience and outcomes but also helps alleviate the burden on overcrowded emergency departments. As more healthcare systems recognize the benefits of hospital-at-home programs, we can expect to see a continued increase in their adoption and expansion across the country. https://lnkd.in/g7_NnNjE

Home care plays a crucial role in reducing hospital emergency visits. Providing personalized care and support in the comfort of one's own home allows for proactive monitoring of health conditions, enabling early intervention and preventing potential emergencies. By focusing on preventive care and fostering a supportive environment, home care services play a critical role in improving overall health outcomes and reducing the burden on hospital emergency departments. #assurancehomecare #homecareservices #eldercare

“More than 175,000 people seeking non-life threatening medical care have avoided NSW hospital emergency departments (EDs), Healthdirect data from NSW Health reveals. More than 315,000 people in NSW contacted Healthdirect between 1 January and 31 December 2023. Of these, more than half – or over 175,000 people – were referred to a healthcare service other than the ED or Triple Zero (000): • 90,474 were referred to a GP; • 35,243 were referred to virtual care or urgent care; • 3,412 were referred to virtualKIDS care (a statewide service since 19 Dec 2023); • 9,682 were referred to other pathways, such as pharmacies or allied health; • 18,095 were provided with information; and • 19,229 were provided guidance on self-care at home.

The term is patient boarding and the problem is significant. We wrote about what emergency departments face on our blog...READ MORE👇 #EMSWeek2024 #emergencymedicine #patientexperience

Some years ago I gave a talk about healthy work at a meeting of the American College Emergency Physcians (ACEP). Afterward, one of the emergency physicians commented that he felt ‘complicit.’ He felt that if he’d have protested 30 years ago, when the factory model of medicine gained traction, along with understaffing and under resourcing, the current crisis could have been avoided. I’m not sure which parts of the current system failures could have been avoided, and I don’t believe that assigning blame is helpful. Certainly, piling guilt on top of suffering won’t help. However, we can fix this problem - and we must, for all of our sakes. As the author states, ~~~~~ “System medical directors, hospitalists, administrators, and even academic influencers would do well to go to the bedside with our overwhelmed and exhausted doctors and ask them, “What can I do to help you?” And then do it. Maybe they could start to revisit just what realistic expectations should look like as our immense, successful, and high-quality system collapses under its own weight.” ~~~~~ We have to reassess the jobs we’re asking people to do as well as the situations we’ve created, organizationally and societally. We must also replace the factory system of healthcare (which is not focused on keeping people healthy, nor healing illness). When we create an equitable, accessible and affordable healthcare system that keeps people healthy and supports the healing process, while promoting the health of its healers, we will have a system that fulfills its purpose. #jobdesign #systemschange

More transparency is needed for Patients to navigate