Program to curb expensive repeat emergency room visits

From the Kearney (NE) Hub:

A program to reduce emergency room visits by repeat patients who drain the health system and taxpayer dollars has seen strong results in the past four months.

In a year, the 35 patients who have since enrolled in the free Lincoln ED Connections program made a total of 377 visits to Lincoln emergency departments. Twelve who made the most visits received $231,869 in unreimbursed care for that time period.

On Tuesday, officials from the city’s general hospitals — BryanLGH Medical Centers west and east and Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center — came together to praise the program and its success.

The program began in October and is paid for by a local grant of $300,000.

Over a three-month period, the rate of visits by those frequent patients has been reduced by about two-thirds.