Home Health Care Nursing Impacts on Emergency Department Utilization.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Research
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Rising healthcare costs necessitate strategies to optimize emergency department (ED) utilization.
• Interventions include primary care, community, and home health models to reduce healthcare expenditures and ED visits.
• Home health nursing (HHN) is a key component of community-based care models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current evidence on the impact of home health nursing (HHN) services on emergency department (ED) utilization.
• To identify gaps in the literature concerning HHN patient transitions to the ED and triage tools.
• To explore the relationship between HHN services and ED utilization, particularly reductions.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of existing studies on home health nursing and ED utilization.
• Analysis of evidence regarding patient triage tools used by home health nurses.
• Examination of variables influencing ED utilization in HHN patients.

Main Results:

• Significant gaps exist in understanding the transition of HHN patients to the ED.
• Limited information is available on triage tools used by home health nurses for ED referral decisions.
• There is a substantial lack of evidence demonstrating a direct relationship between HHN services and decreased ED utilization.
• Emerging evidence supports the impact of nurse practitioners in community care settings.

Conclusions:

• Further research is critically needed to elucidate the role of HHN in managing ED utilization.
• Development and validation of standardized triage protocols for home health nurses are essential.
• Understanding the impact of HHN on ED use requires more robust evidence, especially concerning cost-saving potentials.