Emergency Department Education Campaign

A primary focus of all CHIRs in Michigan is
reducing preventable/avoidable Emergency Department utilization.

The Northern Michigan CHIR completed an assessment of emergency department visits by the Medicaid population in 2017. The assessment demonstrated that patient education was the most critical factor in reducing preventable ED visits. Additional assessment efforts identified five root-cause areas for preventable ED usage:

Access to Care

Cost

Convenience

Patient Behavior

Knowledge of ED

The needs assessment resulted in an opportunity
for improvement through a regional approach to
patient education and increasing community understanding.

The NMCHIR developed and launched Where For Care – an Emergency Department Education initiative with a multifaceted approach to increase appropriate ED use at the individual, system, and community levels. Specifically, the initiative addresses policy, systems, and environmental change with supports to impact preventable/ avoidable ED use. The goal of the campaign is to educate residents on the best place for care when they are sick or injured.