Improving the Appropriateness of Emergency Department Utilization

MHI used its claims data asset to help the St. Louis community understand how commercially-insured people utilize hospital Emergency Departments (ED). Better health outcomes and lower costs are tied to choosing the most appropriate setting for care.

In 2018, MHI and its partner organizations formed the Collaboration to Improve Appropriate Emergency Department (ED) Utilization. Participants worked together to reduce potentially-avoidable ED visits in St. Louis. As part of its work, MHI and its partners developed a Provider Playbook and an Employer Playbook to help those stakeholders talk to their patients and employees about the importance of care in the appropriate setting.

Click here to view the Provider Playbook, a resource supporting health care providers to strengthen relationships with their patients, particularly when a minor, acute health care need arises.

Click here to view the Provider Playbook, a resource supporting health care providers to strengthen relationships with their patients, particularly when a minor, acute health care need arises.

More Resources

Click here to view the community report on Emergency Department and Urgent Care Use in St. Louis.

Assess the Impact

Interested in evaluating the results achieved? The MHI community scorecard, ST. LOUIS HEALTH STATS, provides the number of Emergency Department visits per 1,000 persons for multiple years in its Utilization domain.  You will notice that all of the reduction in ED Visits came from the subset of patients that were discharged home.  2019 data, not yet published, shows another significant decline in ED Use.