Enhanced emergency department referral improves primary care access

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Primary Care Access
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Emergency departments (EDs) are frequently used as a primary care source due to access barriers.
• Patients utilizing EDs as their main source of care often lack established primary care relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an intervention aimed at referring regular emergency department users to primary care.
• To assess the effectiveness of a structured referral process from ED to primary care.

Main Methods:

• A prospective randomized clinical trial involving 189 adults who regularly use the ED without a primary care provider.
• Participants were randomized into an intervention group receiving a referral or a usual care group.
• The study was conducted over three months at an urban hospital.

Main Results:

• The intervention group demonstrated more than double the likelihood of attending their primary care appointments compared to the usual care group.
• A majority of patients in the intervention group also received preventive care services.
• No significant difference in ED utilization was observed between the groups in the 12 months post-intervention.

Conclusions:

• Directly scheduling primary care appointments with detailed instructions during an ED visit significantly increases follow-up show rates.
• This ED-based referral strategy provides a crucial opportunity to deliver preventive health services.
• Interventions connecting ED users to primary care can improve healthcare continuity and preventive care delivery.