Access to care issues and the role of EDs in the wake of the Affordable Care Act.
Am J Emerg Med
; 33(2): 181-5, 2015 Feb.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25433712
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT Americans who received public insurance under the Affordable Care Act use the emergency department (ED) more frequently than before they were insured. If newly enrolled patients cannot access primary care and instead rely on the ED, they may not enjoy the full benefits of health care services. OBJECTIVE:
The objective of the study is to characterize reasons for ED utilization among American adults by insurance status and usual source of care. DESIGN, SETTING, ANDPARTICIPANTS:
Cross-sectional analysis of adult sample respondents to the 2013 National Health Interview Survey reporting 1 or more ED visits in the preceding 12 months. MAIN OUTCOMES ANDMEASURES:
Among American ED users that reported no usual source of care and who reported relying on the ED, 27.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 23.6%-32.2%) and 35.1% (95% CI, 28.0%-43.0%) noted at least 1 issue of access and none of acuity as a reason for their last ED visit, as compared to 17.7% (95% CI, 16.3%-19.2%) among those with a stable usual source of care. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Although past research has shown that those who lack a stable usual source of care use the ED more often, this is the first population-level study to demonstrate their propensity for lack of access-based utilization. In the wake of the Affordable Care Act, EDs will need to evolve into outlets that service a wider range of health care needs rather than function in their current capacity, which is largely to address acute issues in isolation.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital
/
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
/
Accesibilidad a los Servicios de Salud
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Emerg Med
Año:
2015
Tipo del documento:
Article