By Alexandra Mendoza
More than half of the emergency room visits in San Diego are made by patients who do not have an actual emergency.
For this reason, Health and Human Services Agency authorities called upon the community to use the Emergency Rooms only in real emergency situations.
Statistics show that since 2009 to date, only 53 percent of those who attended the emergency room in County of San Diego Hospitals, had symptoms or other health conditions which could not be classified as emergencies.
This dilemma is not new and has gotten worse in recent years. In 2014, the number of recorded emergency room visits surpassed one million, half of which were not classified as emergencies.
This problem has gotten out of control and wait times to see a physician are seem-ingly endless, creating overcrowding and limiting ambulance availability, alerted authorities.
“Local emergency rooms should be for those who are sick, not for those with mild symptoms,” Dr. Nora Faine, Director of Molina Healthcare, stressed during a press conference. To treat symptoms such as ever, back pain, cold, and other similar conditions, authorities ask the community to consult their primary care physician or go to urgent care, and not the emergency room.
On a national level, this matter can be attributed to a number of factors, although local authorities believe the upsurge came following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act Health, better known as “ObamaCare,” that provides health coverage to thousands of people who previously did not have any medical health insurance. HHSA issued a series of recommendations to address this problem.
As a first step, the HSSA urges the community to be well informed of the medical care options available, such as community health clinics for simple health problems.
Additionally, be familiarized with your medical coverage plan and see your doctor if you have mild symptoms of illness. Lastly, have a plan in place to address non-emergencies, so that these types of situa-tions can be treated outside an emergency room.
If you do not have health insurance, dial San Diego County’s 2-1-1 line (Spanish Customer Care is available), to obtain information on clinics offering medical assistance for common diseases.
If the patient has an emergency or a serious injury, authorities ask not to hesitate to go to the emergency room