A “Triage Away” Program with a New Wrinkle

An urban public emergency department (ED) tried a new version of the “triage away” experiments of the 1990s, in which ED personnel direct low-acuity patients to alternative sites of care. They escorted low-acuity patients presenting to the ED to the primary care clinic. Researchers assessed whether this approach made it more likely for a patient without a primary care provider to make a primary care visit in the next year.

During the 1-year study, research staff monitored the availability of clinic openings, and when a slot was available, invited patients who were stable (according to subjective criteria) to go to the clinic instead of entering the ED. Of 1404 eligible patients, 965 said they would participate and 662 were escorted to a prim…