Like many hospitals around the country, Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton and Cook Medical Center in Adel have adopted a new policy which seeks to encourage people with minor medical problems to utilize local primary care practices and walk-in clinics instead of the Emergency Room in order for patients to receive care in a more appropriate setting.  Examples of minor medical conditions include colds, sinus infections, sprains, small scrapes and ear infections.

 TRMC and CMC will provide a federally-required medical screening to all patients who come to the ER for treatment, and if an illness or injury is determined to be non-emergent, the patient will be presented with a list of available clinics in the area and offered assistance in scheduling an appointment if necessary.  Some local clinics also accept walk-in patients and offer evening and weekend hours.

 “This new policy will help decrease traffic in the ER, which will reduce wait times for patients and allow our emergency medicine team to focus on major emergent medical problems such as heart attacks and strokes,” said Chris Dorman, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Tift Regional Health System.  “As we move towards a new age of population health management and prevention, we have to educate people about appropriate levels of care and foster better primary care utilization.”      

 Dorman said that Tift Regional Medical Center is working to expand access to its own clinics.  “The new ER policy is not about creating barriers to care, it’s about transforming care and making it more effective and efficient,” he said. 

 Dorman said TRMC will be expanding capacity at its Tift Community Health Center and adding more providers.   TRMC also has the Hospital Transition Clinic, which provides follow-up care to patients who were recently discharged from the hospital and may not have timely access to a physician’s office.  Affinity ExpressCare at the TRMC West Campus is a walk-in clinic for minor injuries and illnesses that offers evening and weekend hours.

 TRMC is also developing a Patient Centered Medical Home at three different sites as federal healthcare reform requires that medical care be reimbursed based on a fee-for-value framework rather than the fee-for-service model used in the past.    The sites include Affinity Clinic in Tifton, Irwin Primary Care in Ocilla and Tift Regional’s employee-based PCMH in Tifton.   “These are just some of the examples,” said Dorman.

 Dorman said that the TRMC emergency room sees more than 50,000 patients per year.  “This is more than most emergency rooms at hospitals in large cities,” he said.   “A 2010 Health Affairs study shows that more than 25 percent of those visiting ERs could be treated more effectively at doctors’ offices or clinics.”

 If the patient still prefers to be seen in the ER and does not have insurance or has a high-deductible insurance plan, that patient will be asked to pay an upfront deposit of $200 for non-emergency treatment. The patient will then be billed for the balance of charges incurred within the Emergency Room. If the patient has health insurance, the patient’s insurance provider will be billed for the balance and the patient will owe any out-of-pocket expense if mandated by the health plan.

“No patient will be refused treatment, but if it is not an emergency medical condition, the location for care may change through a referral to a more appropriate clinic setting,” said Dorman. 

The new ER policy affects Cook Medical Center in Adel as well.  Cook Medical Center is a campus of Tift Regional Health System.   For more information, visit www.tiftregional.com or call Tift Regional Health System’s Patient Financial Services at 229-353-6124.