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Emergency Doctors Say Study Overestimates Avoidable ED Visits
A Massachusetts cost trends study concluding that preventable visits accounted for roughly half of all emergency department volume in 2010 isn’t presenting a fully accurate picture of ED use in the state, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.
The Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy said the avoidable visits demonstrate an inefficient use of ED resources and that the system needs to expand primary care access and modify patient behaviors. ACEP contends that the state has been using an outdated formula to track ED utilization trends that overinflates the numbers of nonemergent or avoidable visits by looking at final patient diagnoses instead of symptoms.