Effects of social work intervention on nonemergent pediatric emergency department utilization

The purpose of this study was to determine whether social work intervention would reduce nonemergent visits to the emergency department and increase scheduled pediatric visits. A high-risk repeater group of 104 pediatric patients with three or more emergency department visits was randomly selected to receive social work intervention. Control and intervention groups were compared for inappropriate emergency department utilization and scheduled primary care visits. Pre- and postintervention emergency department visits were significantly reduced in the intervention group compared with the group that received no intervention and with prior utilization. Scheduled visits declined in the control group but increased by 26 percent in the intervention group.