UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BUDGET CUTS: IS TURNING AWAY PATIENTS FROM THE ER DOING NO HARM?
The University of Chicago (U of C) is in the midst of a major restructuring that includes a plan for changing how it admits emergency room patients. Along with 450 layoffs, the emergency room may decline to accept every illness and injury under its new Urban Health Initiative plan The decision involves a new version of patient triage, essentially weeding out the individuals who could be treated elsewhere.
Costs are the driving force behind the change. According to the medical center, 40% of the 80,000 patients who go to its emergency room every year do not need to be there. The medical center says that these patients could be treated at community hospitals (whose costs are 30 to 40 percent lower than the U of C). These visits cost the hospital tens of millions of dollars a year. Additionally, the hospital has seen a rising number of uninsured patients and those covered by Medicaid.
I see the value in a plan for individuals to seek treatment at a facility that is appropriate for the level of their injury. Obviously, not every cut calls for emergency room treatment. However, the concern is that patients may not get the care that they need. It is concerning to think that people will be turned away. "This is tricky," said Jim Unland, president of The Health Capital Group, a consulting firm based in Chicago. "If patients really need to be in an ER and the U of C is turning them away, I have a problem with that."
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