Impact Of Primary Care Utilization And Insurance On Emergency Department Visits

Abstract

The emergency department (ED)is uniquely situated to provide treatment for situations such as acute episodes of illness, injury, and symptoms resulting from a chronic disease episode. Health care services need to be quickly accessible to properly triage the patient for stabilization and discharge. Factors delaying care include patient overcrowding, workforce shortages, and lack of insurance, which leads to rising health costs for all stakeholders. This study examines the correlation between primary care utilization and ED visits and the role insurance plays. This research was conducted by using secondary data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), 2021, and was thus limited to adult California patientsResults from this research show a strong correlation between primary care utilization and insurance and ED use. Therefore, the first hypothesis is that an increase in primary care utilization reduces ED visits. The second hypothesis is that those individuals insured utilize more primary care for preventative care and, therefore, experience fewer ED visits. The null hypothesis in this study is that the independent variables are not associated with the dependent variable.