Hospital Emergency Room utilization is on the rise across the country. Our region has not been immune to this trend, and we too have seen a significant increase with our members using Emergency Rooms for non-emergency care. As the economy worsens, more individuals are turning to hospital Emergency Rooms for care rather than using more appropriate and less expensive options. Our members often overlook calling their doctor for advice or appointments, or utilizing the Optima Health's After-Hours Nurse Advice Line as their first step.
We are working to communicate with our members the most cost effective and usually faster options for non-emergency care. If you would like to see a sample of the letter and reference guide we are using to help them identify the urgent care centers and hospitals in the Optima Health network in their area, please click the links to the right.
We ask that when you have the opportunity to communicate to your employees, that you encourage them to consider these steps to care. It will save them money and they will generally receive faster care.
If you have questions, please contact your Optima Health representative or broker.