Health Care's Frequent Fliers: The Treatment of Kenny Farnsworth

The Washington Post Magazine
November 29, 2009

As someone who was often homeless, [Kenny Farnsworth] came to rely upon the emergency room for all his health problems, whether or not they were life-threatening. When something seemed wrong, he demanded service. "Most of my problems happen on a short-term basis," he explains... 

...But providing basic health care in an emergency room makes no economic sense. According to the New England Healthcare Institute, a Cambridge, Mass.-based policy research organization, Americans' overdependence on the ER leads to tremendous waste. By treating chronic and nonurgent problems with emergency care rather than primary care, the group estimates that we fritter away as much as $32 billion nationally each year. The same treatment from a primary care doctor is usually two to five times more expensive through the emergency room.

Link to Full Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR200911200…