The ER's in Urgent Need of a Fix

Boston Globe
August 25, 2008

An emergency at the ER. Recent research from the New England Healthcare Institute found that roughly a quarter of all emergency-room visits were for non-urgent issues, and another quarter could have been addressed (or prevented) by a visit to a doctor's office. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care chief executive Charles Baker studies the research and suggests the healthcare system should do more to keep those patients out of the ER.

We all read stories all the time about how crowded the ER is at many local hospitals, and the burden this puts on the care delivery system. We usually assume [incorrectly] this is due to inappropriate use that's driven by uninsured people seeking the only source of open access care that's available to them...

Link to Full Article: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/08/25/the_ers_in_urgent_need_of_a_fix/