Social and Medical Vulnerability Factors of Emergency Department Frequent Users in a Universal Health Insurance System

Screening of mental health and substance users in frequent users of a general Swiss emergency department

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to determine the proportions of psychiatric and substance use disorders suffered by emergency departments' (EDs') frequent users compared to the mainstream ED population, to evaluate how effectively these disorders were diagnosed in both groups of patients by ED physicians, and to determine if these disorders were predictive of a frequent use of ED s...

Characteristics of occasional and frequent emergency department users: do insurance coverage and access to care matter?

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to explore how insurance coverage, access to care, and other individual characteristics are related to the large differences in emergency department (ED) use among the general population. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used the 1997 and 1999 National Survey of America's Families, a nationally representative sample. People were classified into 3 ED use level...

Emergency department use and barriers to wellness: a survey of emergency department frequent users

BACKGROUND There is no common understanding of how needs of emergency department (ED) frequent users differ from other patients. This study sought to examine how to best serve this population. Examinations of why ED frequent users present to the ED, what barriers to care exist, and what service offerings may help these patients achieve an optimal level of health were conducted. METHODS We per...

Ten Years of Frequent Users in an Urban Emergency Department

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to determine if differences could be detected in the presentation patterns and admission rates among frequent emergency department users (FEDU) of an urban emergency department over a 10-year period. METHODS This was an institutional review board approved, retrospective review of all patients who presented to the ED 5 or more times for 3 distinct tim...

universal factors affecting emergency department crowding