Patient Population of Freestanding Emergency Centers. Final Report

摘要

The research examines the effect of freestanding emergency centers (FECs) on patients' utilization of primary health care services. The Final Report documents the characteristics and health care-seeking behavior of FEC patients. Data were collected from three FECs, three hospital emergency departments (EDs), and, the offices of eighteen family/general physicians in private practice in Houston, Texas. Findings include: FEC patients were concentrated between the ages of 6 and 44; FEC patients had higher family incomes and a higher level of education than national averages; FECs treated more illnesses and did more physician exams than EDs, but treated more trauma-related problems than physicians in private practice; over half of the FEC patients claimed personal physicians; few FECs operate as Medicare or Medicaid vendors; FECs represent a middle ground between higher cost treatment in EDs and lower cost private physicians care; FECs supplement rather than replace more traditional sources of care; convenience factors of location and not needing an appointment were decisive in FEC patients' rationale for site selection.