Bridges to Health

Innovative Collaborative Project Seeking to Address High Utilization of Pardee Emergency Department for Nonemergent Needs

In June 2010, collaborative partners Pardee Hospital, MAHEC, Access II Care, and TFC launched a new program that explicitly targets uninsured patients who have utilized Pardee’s emergency department multiple times during the past year, bringing together the best resources in our community to seek a solution to the problem of overutilization of the emergency department.

Bridges offers patients a drop-in group medical visit two times per week, staffed by a Pardee physician, nurse case manager, and mental health specialist.

While TFC’s clinics help to defer patients from inappropriate emergency department utilization and save the hospitals almost $500,000 each year, there are still patients who continue to inappropriately use the emergency department. This project targets those patients. Patients of the program also have access to all TFC’s specialty clinics and programs, pharmacy, and Medi-Find Prescription Assistance Program. Group medical visits are held at TFC; TFC is also providing the space for the program’s case manager at no cost.

Patients enrolled based upon specific criteria.

Please see call Lori Collins, Bridges case manager, for more information at 697.8422 ext. 135.

Bridges to Health.