Primary Care in the Emergency Room: High in Cost and Low in Quality

Abstract

To the Editor: More than two thirds of hospital-emergency-room users do not have a clinical emergency.¹ They could be cared for in less sophisticated, less expensive facilities. In our community, the average basic emergency-room charge for a nonurgent illness was $43 in 1980 and its cost to third-party payers under cost reimbursement was $38, whereas the cost in a nearby community health center was $17. Multiplying the difference between these costs by the number of persons considered to use emergency rooms inappropriately yields an annual estimated cost equal to $8 per person to our area's population. This is the amount . . .