Q & A REAR ADM. CHRISTINE HUNTER, USN
What was call volume yesterday? What’s the expected volume [at this] time of year? Are we getting back- logged? With Navy the most heavily deployed for Haiti, other services were able to cross-level providers into those facilities. So a provider was in the clinic, even if it wasn’t the one that patients were accustomed to seeing.
In your speech to the Military Health System Conference in Jan- uary, you said too many beneficia- ries are using emergency rooms rather than military urgent care centers or primary care providers.
Emergency care utilization is rising, both among patients enrolled with network primary care managers and those in the direct-care system. This doesn’t seem to correlate to dis- satisfaction with access to care. We have seen increased use of ERs for acute minor conditions even among people who say they have good ac- cess to primary care managers.
Lt. Mark Heitzmann, USN, treats a patient as part of Operation Unified
Response, which is providing military support to civil authorities to help stabi- lize and improve the situation in Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Certainly there are cases that
should be seen in an ER — chest pain, shortness of breath, fractures, bleed- ing, and trauma. But the next 20 or so
most common conditions seen there are sore throat, back pain, and other conditions that easily could be han- dled in an office or urgent care setting.
This clogs up ERs, but are there other reasons to be concerned?
Yes. First, though you will get fine care in an ER, often times you will wait longer, behind patients triaged as more urgent. Also, emergency care focuses on the acute issue you came in for today. It won’t take into account adjustments needed to your total well- ness picture, and the doctor might not have full view of your medical records. And it’s more expensive. An ER has
to run lots of tests to rule out more se- rious conditions. Doctors who know you best, however, might not feel those tests [are] necessary because they know your history and can see you back [again] if something doesn’t
ER visits might fix your ailment,
but they don’t take into account your total wellness picture and can be ex- pensive — for you and TRICARE.
PHOTOS: TOP, PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS HENDRICK DICKSON, USN; CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT, LANCE CPL. TYLER JAMES HLAVAC, USMC; SHUTTERSTOCK; LANCE CPL. TYLER JAMES HLAVAC, USMC; KEVIN YOUNG/FORT SILL CANNONEER/U.S. ARMY
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