Research Paper on:
Hospital Emergency Departments

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
physicians office. The effects of no insurance patients or claims denied patients on an emergency department are also discussed. Bibliography lists 7 sources. BBeRnwR.doc THE EMERGENCY  ROOM TODAY Written by for the Paperstore, Inc., October 2000 Introduction According to Modern Healthcare (1996) the amount that hospitals spent on  care for the poor dropped in 1994 for the first time in over a decade; meanwhile, profits jumped 17.3% to a record high of $13.8 billion. Emergency room service,  now usually labeled the "emergency department" of a major hospital, is under thorough review. Emergency Room Services According Schurr (1997) in data from the  1994 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Access to Care Survey and from the 1993 National Health Interview Survey, (The RWJFsurvey was fielded in 1994 as a follow-up component to the  1993 NHIS.), 450 follow-up interviews were conducted and determined that only a very small number of Americans continuously use the ER for routine medical care. However, the ER may serve  as a short-term safety net for persons temporarily unable to access care through a physicians office. Hospital closures According to Himmelstein (1996) hospital closures in inner city neighborhoods and cutbacks  in funding for long-term care will have had a devastating impact on women, minorities, and children. Patterns of Use According to Gill (1996), the study population (N=268) was primarily  poor (74% with annual household income of less than $20,000), African-American (68%), had a telephone at home (76%), and had either Medicaid (33%) or no insurance (47%). Seventy-nine percent were  seen on a weekday, primarily during the day (55%) and evening (37%) shifts. Thirty-five percent of patients lived within 1 mile of the (Emergency Department) ED, and 22% had been