Report: Many State Residents

Don’t Require ER Visits

HARTFORD — State health officials reported July 14 that many Connecticut residents are visiting hospital emergency departments when a trip to a primary care facility could suffice. These findings are part of a recent study released by the Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Care Access (OHCA).          

The study, “Health Care Services in Connecticut, Availability, Utilization, and Access,” is the first of a three-part approach to planning for Connecticut’s future health care system.

This study, along with an inventory of facilities, services, and equipment and a Statewide Facilities and Services Plan to be released in 2012, will allow for a comprehensive approach to systemwide planning in order to positively impact the state’s health care system.

“Federal health care reform has the potential to dramatically change the health care system in the coming years, particularly in the availability of primary care services in nonemergent settings” said DPH Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, MD, MPH, MBA. “This study will be instrumental in ensuring that all residents of Connecticut will continue to have access to quality health care. By identifying gaps and trends in our current system, we are better able to prepare for the provisions of health care reform that will arise in the next several years.”    

Other findings and trends in the study include:

*Adults between 45 and 64 were the fastest growing segment of inpatients.

*Medicaid-covered patients have increased ten percent while those with commercial insurance declined 4 percent.

*Nearly half of all ED visits occurred when most primary care facilities are open.

*11 percent of hospitalization for certain acute and chronic conditions may have been prevented with timely primary care.

The study includes comprehensive data on Connecticut’s socioeconomic characteristics, primary reasons for utilization, and insurance coverage, as well as recommendations for future needs. 

The study can be viewed in its entirety on the DPH website at www.ct.gov/dph.