Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hong, Arthur S

Titel

Characteristics of Self-Triaged Emergency Department Visits by Adults With Cancer

Ist Teil von

• The American journal of managed care, 2023-09, Vol.29 (9), p.e267-e273

Ort / Verlag

Jamesburg: Intellisphere, LLC

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Am J Manag Care. 2023;29(9):e267-e273. https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2023.89429 _____ Takeaway Points * Despite available 24/7 nurse triage phone lines and oncology-specific urgent care clinics, a diverse group of patients with cancer frequently did not call for help before an emergency department visit (85.5% of visits). * Patient self-referred visits, visits to hospitals closer to a patient's home, and visits on weekends were not for more severe clinical conditions. * Findings suggest potential targets to help patients manage acute care needs during cancer treatment and are especially relevant to providers who will be participating in the Medicare Enhancing Oncology Model alternative payment pilot. _____ Adults with a new diagnosis of cancer frequently visit emergency departments (EDs) for disease- and treatment-related symptoms, and many of these visits may be preventable.1-5 Despite receiving specialized treatment at one cancer treatment hospital, patients often visit other health systems.6 Because clinic telephone automated messages often advise that "if this is a medical emergency, please hang up and call 911," a potential explanation is that patients who self-refer (go to the ED without calling their care team) are sicker and go to the nearest ED. [...]outpatient clinics and cancer treatment centers have 24/7 telephone lines for clinical advice, but these resources may be underutilized.6 Inherent limitations in more widely available data sets prevent insights into multiple ED visits by the same patient. Yet cancer diagnosis details and unbilled clinical encounter data, across insurance types, are important.10-12 We analyzed a comprehensive set of ED visits for patients across insurance types and without insurance who were treated by 2 health systems by linking tumor registries to the respective electronic health record (EHR) and an all-payer regional health information exchange containing identifiably linked hospital visits.