Relationship between primary care access through free clinics and emergency room usage

The health care system in the United States has a safety net to provide care for the millions of Americans without health insurance and lack access to care. The safety net system includes hospital emergency departments, federally qualified health centers, and community clinics. With the costs of health care rising, ways to utilize and maximize the effectiveness of safety net providers is critical. One way to conserve costs involves preventing those without insurance from using the emergency room as a primary care provider. This study surveyed two uninsured groups, one using a local free clinic for primary care (n = 54) and one from the community that did not use the free clinic (n = 70). The uninsured group that used the free clinic had a statistically significant lower average of emergency room visits than the uninsured group that did not use the free clinic. The results suggest that providing primary care for the uninsured decreases emergency room usage.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Community Health

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Trask, Jeffrey T.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Alston, Reginald J.
• Farner, Susan M.
• Harvey, Idethia S.
• Ogbudimpka, Jerry E.

• Uninsured
• Emergency Room
• Emergency Department
• Free Clinics
• Health Policy

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2011 Jeffrey T. Trask

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/24238

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/24238