From the ANA SmartBrief

ED visits are on the rise, survey finds
A survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians found that 80% of 1,768 emergency doctors reported seeing an increase in emergency department visits and 89% think that the health care legislation will spur more ED visits. Ninety-seven percent of respondents said they treat patients referred by primary care physicians every day and 97% also said they had daily encounters with Medicaid patients who could not find another doctor to accept their health insurance, according to the poll. BeckersHospitalReview.com (4/28)


Again, How do you spell Ludicrous?


The ER is NOT a doctor's office and NOT a clinic (pain Management or otherwise), it should also NOT be the gateway for Family Practice or other Doctors who cannot be bothered to do a proper direct admission on the patients they know they are sending to the ER for admission.


These doctors are simply lazy and unconcerned about their own patients. The direct admission is in place for these patients that the doctor KNOWS needs admission. It should be handled properly. It is a huge disservice to the PATIENT, to send them to the ER to sit around for lab results or other tests that can be accomplished from the floor. It is also a huge waste of ER services, when other patients have to wait to evaluate and treat a patient that the admitting doctor already KNOWS is going to be admitted. There seems to be some mandate that they have to ACTUALLY come in and see this patient (in a certain time limit; Oh NO, say it isn't so) and that seems to be the main reason they misuse the ER. That may need adjustment.


There also need to be doc-in-the-box chronic pain management and pregnancy testing centers on every corner, because way too many people come in just for these non-emergent situations. Also, doctor's offices need more mid-level providers or some other system so that they are not always sending in patients who seldom actually need an ER just because they cannot manage to fit them in. MORE HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS FOLKS...JUST A CLUE.....