Reducing Unnecessary Emergency Department Visits for Low-Acuity Patients Through Text Outreach Encouraging Primary Care or Intelligent Triage Use

What this Trial Is About

This research evaluates ways to reduce unnecessary visits to a Geisinger emergency department ED among patients discharged after a low-acuity visit. The study compares different outreach methods to encourage appropriate follow-up care and assess whether these methods affect the likelihood of returning to the ED within 120 days. The study focuses on patients who recently visited the ED with non-emergency conditions and aims to improve care coordination after discharge. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups no additional outreach beyond usual care, receiving messages encouraging contact with their primary care provider PCP, or receiving messages promoting use of an Intelligent Triage tool for symptom assessment. Outreach includes text messages sent the day after ED discharge and information added to the patients after visit summary. The interventions aim to guide patients towards appropriate care resources after their ED visit. During the study, participants will be monitored for ED visits within 120 days following discharge. Researchers will track whether patients follow the outreach instructions and compare ED usage across groups. Data collection involves reviewing medical records and communication logs to evaluate the effectiveness of the outreach strategies. The total participation involves observation during this 120-day period after the ED discharge.

Informing Low-acuity Emergency Department Patients of Non-emergent Resources (2)