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328286
Association between North Carolina Free Clinics and Non-Urgent Emergency Department Visits


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Jenny Hutchison, MBA, BS, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Michael E. Thompson, MS, DrPH, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Jennifer Troyer, PhD, Belk College of Business, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Overcrowding in US Emergency Departments is an ongoing problem that leads to delays in treatment and poor health outcomes.  One of several contributors to overcrowding is frequent use of Emergency Departments (ED) for primary care treatable conditions.  Free clinics offer acute, primary and preventive care for uninsured individuals.  North Carolina has approximately 70 free clinics that provide medical services located through out the state.  In addition, North Carolina has opted out of the Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and is expected to be in the top 10 states in terms of uninsured, even after full implementation of the ACA. 

 Utilizing 2010 North Carolina Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Emergency Department discharge data, this study examined the association between free clinics in North Carolina and non-urgent ED visits for the uninsured.  Covariates included patient demographics, county and health services environment variables.  Non-urgent ED visits were defined using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Preventive Quality Indicator #90. 

 Improved understanding of the contribution of free clinics to healthcare access for the vulnerable populations they serve could influence local government policies and hospital partnerships commitment to free clinics and their community programs.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
Assess whether an individual residing in a county with a free clinic has a reduced likelihood of an non-urgent emergency department visit as compared to an individual who resides in a county without a free clinic.

Keyword(s): Health Care Access, Low-Income

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: This topic is part of my dissertation for my Phd in health services research. In addition, I was involved in a research project examining local free clinics which included primary data collection as well as contribution to a manuscript.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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