Primary Care Access and Emergency Room Use Among Older Veterans

Continuity of Care in Infancy and Early Childhood Health Outcomes

“…The results from our data reveal that continuity with a small group may be as effective as or more effective than continuity with a single provider, which has been demonstrated in adults and ED use. 45 This strategy may also be more feasible to implement. Discussing benefits of continuity with families may also improve continuity.…”

Evaluation of the Influence of a Pharmacist-led Patient-Centered Medication Therapy Management and Reconciliation Service in Collaboration with Emergency Department Physicians

“…11 In order to combat the increasing number of ED visits, studies have indicated that improving primary care (PC) access will contribute to the reduction of ED visits. [12][13][14][15][16] In these examples, Coleman et al (2001) and Coleman (2003) demonstrated that by improving transistion of care through visits with a care team that included a physician, nurse, and pharmacist the number of ED visits was reduced. 4,5 The effect of poor transition of care and medication reconciliation has been explored independently.…”

The Relationship between Same-Day Access and Continuity in Primary Care and Emergency Department Visits

“…Our results are consistent with earlier work in VHA and non-VHA practices using alternate measures of access. A previous study of VHA PCPs found a modest relationship between less access, as measured by higher appointment booking density, and more ED visits [ 3 ]. Other non-VA studies have shown that patients with a usual source of care report that more barriers to timely access such as having difficulty scheduling appointments, ability to contact providers after hours, longer waiting times, and limited clinic hours increased the risk of having an ED visit [ 2 , 25 , 26 ].…”

“…There is limited evidence regarding the ability of core features of primary care, such as timely access to care and provider continuity, to impact ED visits, especially for diagnoses that are treatable in primary care. Previous research found that poor access as measured by lacking a usual source of care, longer waiting times for appointments, and less provider availability and worse continuity with a primary care provider were associated with having ED visits [ 1 – 3 ]. In addition, many health care organizations have attempted to improve access and continuity within patient-centered medical home (PCMH) models and have found this model of care reduced ED visits [ 4 – 8 ], so improving primary care systems may contribute to preventing unnecessary ED use.…”