Using design and innovation principles to reduce avoidable emergency department visits among employees of a large academic medical center

Krisda H Chaiyachati; Katy Mahraj; Carolina Garzon Mrad; Christina J O'Malley; Marguerite Balasta; Christopher Snider; Ann Marie Huffenberger; C William Hanson 3rd; Shivan J Mehta; David A Asch

doi:10.1016/j.hjdsi.2020.100514

Using design and innovation principles to reduce avoidable emergency department visits among employees of a large academic medical center

Healthc (Amst). 2021 Mar;9(1):100514. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2020.100514. Epub 2021 Jan 28.

Affiliations

¹ University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Penn Medicine Center for Connected Care, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁴ Penn Medicine Center for Connected Care, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁵ University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Penn Medicine Center for Connected Care, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁶ University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁷ University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Abstract

1: Most large employers self-insure their employee health benefits, creating a motivation for employers to improve health care's value. 2: Employers who are also health care providers can aim for value through the direct provision of clinical services, not just through wellness programs or the design of insurance products. 3: Innovation and design methods can be systematically applied to health care problems to guide decisions about solutions which should or should not be scaled. 4: A virtual, on-demand urgent care service provided by a health care provider organization to its employees has the potential to reduce unnecessary emergency department visits and decrease the total cost of care.

Keywords: Avoidable emergency department visits; Design; Employee health; Innovation; Telemedicine.

MeSH terms

Academic Medical Centers
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Health Promotion*
Humans

Grants and funding

K08 AG065444/AG/NIA NIH HHS/United States