Community Ed on Urgent Care Centers

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Specializes in Emergency Dept, M/S.

I'm wondering what, if anything, your hospital or communities do to educate people on using Urgent Care Centers over ED's. We have a TON of wonderful Urgent Care Centers, only one of which is run by our hospital, but they are such an under-utilized resource, especially in this last month or two of severe flu outbreak.

Now we are not allowed to recommend to patients who have been checked in at registration (and we only see them in triage after they have been registered) that they may find waiting times much less at these facilities. That's just policy, and 99% of the time, even with upwards of 8 hour wait times in our 60-bed ED, we do not say anything about them to pts.

What can we do to educate people about using them? People literally have to pass 4 of them to get to our ED, on the same road. I'm thinking a lot of it is a money issue, that maybe people believe they have to pay there and if they come to the ED, they don't.

Just wondering what everyone else has for a policy, and if they try to get docs or the communities to somehow get the word out/advertise for these centers. I know if even 50% of our flu pts went to an Urgent Care, we would have almost empty waiting rooms.

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

Could they be given this information as part of their discharge from your ER?

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Specializes in Hospice.

What about promoting urgent care centers and educating the physicians associated with the hospital? Recently my doctor's office directed me to go the ER when they couldn't get me in that day for a issue that truly couldn't wait another day, but wasn't an emergency yet. I asked if I could go to the urgent care center instead, and the doctor's office was fine with that. It was almost like they didn't even think of it! Know what? The urgent care center was able to treat me just fine, I was there less than an hour, and it didn't cost me or my insurance company nearly what ER visit would have.

I realize that there are people who use the ER as their "primary care facility" instead of having a family physician and my suggestion wouldn't be of assistance to that population...

Also, patients need education on what is an emergency and what isn't. Now of course, if there is ever a question as to whether something is a true emergency, I'd rather people erred on the side of caution and went to the ER or call 911 (this coming from an EMT who's seen the effects of people waiting to seek medical attention in a true emergency:).

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

My hospital is so paranoid about EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act) that we can't even hint that they might not have needed the ED for their sniffles.

However, after a six-hour wait and then being told to go to a drugstore for some ibuprofen and cough medicine, some get the message.

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I'm sorry to say this but I recently went to an urgent care clinic for some routine matters and when the facility contacted my insurance carrier they were told to send me to an ER. In no way would I go to an ER on my own for something I know could be taken care of by an urgent care center. But why should I pay out of pocket to use an urgent care center? I am also paying for the insurance. Makes no sense.

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