Emergency care

As an alternative to inpatient care, an outpatient center located within a hospital with a stroke center evaluates stable patients who have experienced a recent transient ischemic attack, leading to more timely and comprehensive care, and to significant cost savings through the avoidance of unnecessary admissions.

A collaborative program leverages information technology to connect ED patients to a medical home and patients receiving care at FQHCs and county health clinics to specialists, leading to enhanced access to care, fewer ED visits, and significant cost savings.

Emergency department–based case managers at nine Milwaukee hospitals use electronic technologies to schedule and track attendance at follow-up clinic appointments for low-income, uninsured patients who come to the emergency department with nonurgent needs, allowing many such patients to establish a medical home.

A regional health system with 21 hospitals implemented a comprehensive sepsis care initiative featuring proactive screening in the emergency department, algorithms to guide evidence-based treatment, and tools to support the provision of appropriate care, leading to better diagnosis, more appropriate care, lower mortality rates, and more patients meeting clinical targets.

Hospitals participating in a collaborative used screening criteria, fast-track diagnostic testing, protocols to support the prompt initiation of treatment, and ongoing monitoring to reduce sepsis mortality by 54.5 percent.

A multidisciplinary hospital team reaches out to and meets with patients and family members in a compassionate, supportive manner, allowing them to better deal with the loss of a loved one or other unexpected, negative events.

An emergency medical system provider uses advance practice paramedics to provide in-home and telephone-based support to patients who frequently call 911, reducing the use of ambulance and emergency department services.

A hospital partners with a residential alcohol treatment center to offer medically stable emergency department patients with acute alcohol intoxication an alternative treatment setting, leading to lower emergency department length of stay, cost savings of nearly $2,000,000, and anecdotal reports of improved patient outcomes.

A computerized decision support system uses algorithms and real-time patient information to guide the resuscitation of trauma patients, leading to fewer medical errors.

A collaborative telemedicine program between a hospital and 10 nursing homes in rural communities prevents unnecessary transports of residents to the emergency department.