Jessica Bartlett | Boston Business Journal March 12, 2015
A Boston Business Journal analysis of Massachusetts health care systems has found that the majority of organizations analyzed reported declines in emergency department visits in 2014.
The numbers correspond with statewide trends recently reported by the Center for Health Information and Analysis from 2009 to 2012. In all, 10 out of 17 of the state's largest hospitals reported year-over-year declines.
Hallmark Health System saw the biggest declines from 2013 to 2014, dropping 6 percent to 52,601 cases. Declines largely occurred because the health system created urgent care clinics at both Lawrence Memorial Hospital and in Reading, which siphoned patients from the ERs from both Lawrence Memorial and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital who didn't need to be there, according to hospital officials.
Communication with doctors, who were previously referring patients to the ER during off hours, also helped redirect patients to urgent care instead of the emergency room.
"Our overall goal was to place patients in a more appropriate setting and gear our processes to what that patient type was," said Dr. Steven Sbardella, chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Hallmark.
A Boston Business Journal analysis of Massachusetts health care systems has found that the majority of organizations analyzed reported declines in emergency department visits in 2014.
The numbers correspond with statewide trends recently reported by the Center for Health Information and Analysis from 2009 to 2012. In all, 10 out of 17 of the state's largest hospitals reported year-over-year declines.
Hallmark Health System saw the biggest declines from 2013 to 2014, dropping 6 percent to 52,601 cases. Declines largely occurred because the health system created urgent care clinics at both Lawrence Memorial Hospital and in Reading, which siphoned patients from the ERs from both Lawrence Memorial and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital who didn't need to be there, according to hospital officials.
Communication with doctors, who were previously referring patients to the ER during off hours, also helped redirect patients to urgent care instead of the emergency room.
"Our overall goal was to place patients in a more appropriate setting and gear our processes to what that patient type was," said Dr. Steven Sbardella, chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Hallmark.
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