The reasons people walk into the ED vary, but generally include¹:

• Traumatic injury
• Acute medical emergency
• Uncertain symptoms
• Flair of chronic illness
• Mental health crisis
• Minor injuries
• Lack of access to doctor or available appts
• Social/environmental factors
• Medications needed

It is also well documented that people who often present to the ED could have been treated in another setting, or have prevented the ED trip all together with better preventative care². For many, lack of medical insurance and inability to pay prevents access to care, leaving patients with no other choice but to seek care from the ED because they know they will not be turned away or expected to pay at the time of care under EMTALA. 

This leads to not only higher rates of ER congestion, but also contributes to higher healthcare costs. In just treating minor conditions in an urgent care or retail setting, it is estimated that the US could save 4.4 billion in unnecessary ED costs.³

It is hard to address the social and policy effects on ED Input, models can be implemented that address these types of EDs with throughput strategies. 

References 

1. Amy Cohn, PhD, Center for Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety (UM-CHEPS) Seminar, Fall 2024
2. U.S. Census Bureau. (2022, January 6). Who makes more preventable visits to emergency rooms? https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/01/who-makes-more-preventable-visits-to-emergency-rooms.html
3. Weinick RM, Burns RM, Mehrotra A. Many emergency department visits could be managed at urgent care centers and retail clinics. Health Aff (Millwood). 2010 Sep;29(9):1630-6. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0748. PMID: 20820018; PMCID: PMC3412873.