Groups Tout Program Aimed at Cutting ED Use in California

CAL/AAEM News Service calaaem_news at yahoo.com
Sat Sep 13 17:35:55 PDT 2008



Groups Tout Program Aimed at Cutting ED Use in California

 

Source: The California Healthline ( http://www.californiahealthline.org
)

Date:  August 18, 2008

 

 

Supporters of a five-year pilot program that directed
frequent users of hospital emergency departments to other sources of health
care are lobbying the Legislature to approve a similar effort, the Fresno Bee
reports.

 

Six counties -- Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and
Tulare -- participated
in the pilot, which is set to end next month. It was funded by $10 million in
grants from the California Endowment and the California HealthCare Foundation.

 

Outcomes

 

According to the Bee, ED visits declined by about 35% for
participants in the program.

 

In addition, preliminary findings from the Lewin Group, a
Virginia-based consulting firm, show that: 

 

- Hospital and ED charges decreased by $9,715 for each
frequent user of EDs identified in the program; 

- Hospital admissions decreased by 30%; and 

- Between 24% and 69% of people identified in the program
were successfully enrolled in other services, including Medi-Cal.

 

Lobbying Efforts

 

Supporters of the program estimate that it would cost the state
about $10 million to launch the initiative statewide but that the cost of the
program would be offset by savings from preventing hospital ED visits.

 

Groups lobbying the Legislature for the program include the:


 

- California
Association of Public Hospitals; 

- California
Medical Association; 

- California
 State Association of
Counties; and 

- Western Center on Law and Poverty (Correa, Fresno Bee, 8/16).

 

CHCF publishes California Healthline.

 

For more information, please visit: 

http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2008/8/18/Groups-Tout-Program-Aimed-at-Cutting-ED-Use-in-California.aspx?topicID=37

 



Abid Mogannam &
Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service
University of California, Irvine

The CAL/AAEM Archives are available at: http://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/public/calaaem/

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