Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:Introduction to Health Care and Public Health in the U.S.
Unit:Delivering Health Care - Part 2
Lecture:Retail Clinics, Urgent Care Centers, and Emergency Departments as Venues for Health Care
Slide content:Emergency Department (ED) - 2 Intended to treat life-threatening emergencies Large number of visits were not emergencies 2008 - 11% of ambulatory visits occurred in ED setting 2010 13.7% - 27.1% of cases could have been treated in urgent care 7
Slide notes:Emergency rooms are intended to treat life-threatening emergencies, but a substantial number of ED visits are not for emergencies. Approximately eleven percent of all ambulatory medical care visits in the U.S. occurred in the emergency department in 2008, and the number of non-emergency ED visits may be very high. For example, in 2010 it was estimated that between 13.7 and 27.1 percent of all emergency department visits could have been treated at an urgent care or retail clinic with a potential savings of approximately 4.4 billion dollars. 7