Health Services

Assessment of Non-Urgent Use of Delta Emergency Departments
Delta State University
Posted: 07-07-2009

Description
This assessment is focused on identifying the health conditions, health care needs and resources of patients visiting emergency departments at hospitals located in the Mississippi Delta. The specific focus is on adults seeking “non-urgent care.”

Objectives
This assessment is intended to provide data to answer several questions, including:
1) What are the social, economic and health status characteristics of people visiting the EDs and CHCs for non-urgent care?
2) What health resources do they have, and what do they need?
3) What challenges do they face in attempting to access health care?
4) What interventions could be implemented to divert non-urgent care patients from EDs to CHCs and facilitate their use of CHCs as their medical homes?

Dates
Beginning: 09-2008
Ending: 06-2009

Status
Completed

Research Partners
This research is being conducted through a collaborative partnership between the Delta State University Institute for Community-Based Research and the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association. Through their partnership with the MPHCA, six hospitals served as the sites for data collection.

Funding Partners
Mississippi Primary Health Care Association via a grant from the Delta Health Alliance