Emergency department (ED) visits have been steadily rising in the United States, increasing by nearly 20 percent to 115.3 million annually from 1995 to 2005. Despite commonly held assumptions, this is not primarily driven by individuals who are uninsured or without primary care physicians. Retrospective review identifies that as many as 50 percent of all ED visits could have been avoided by care in other settings. However, from the perspective of the individuals who present to the ED for care, these visits are unavoidable at the time as alternatives are not known, not available, or do not exist.
Many efforts to reduce avoidable ED visits have typically focused on providing alternative options for medical care, for example, primary care clinics, nursing call-in centers, or expanded physician office hours. The most successful strategies identified during an Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) research phase involved the formation of coalitions that include community resources and support in addition to medical providers. IHI has been testing a framework to reduce avoidable ED visits using the formation of coalitions to design specific interventions which are both patient-centric and beneficial for organizations from a population approach.
To share this framework and learning from initial testing, IHI is pleased to offer the new Web&ACTION: Reducing Avoidable Emergency Department Visits.
Over the course of three web-based sessions, expert faculty will provide you with an overview of the research that led to the development of a framework and examples of how prototyping organizations are testing this framework. With faculty coaching, you will be able to test aspects of the framework in your organization during the Action Periods between each session.
Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:
-
Describe the framework being tested for reducing avoidable ED visits
-
Identify patient streams within your population to focus improvement efforts
-
Conduct tests of the framework and measure impact
