Point-of-Care Follow-Up With Primary Care After Emergency Department Discharge

This is a randomized controlled trial involving adult emergency department (ED) patients who need a follow-up visit as defined by the ED provider (importance of follow-up rated as 5 or greater on a 0 to 10 scale). There is software available called ZocDoc that provides a user the ability to identify primary care providers who have open appointments and will take the person's health insurance (in network and outside of network) and list the doctors based on their proximity to the person in need. We are testing whether booking appointments for ED patients using ZocDoc vs. giving patients the information to use ZocDoc themselves vs. standard discharge instructions given by ED staff (i.e. you should follow-up with a primary care doctor) affects compliance with self-reported follow-up visits. We are enrolling patients while they are in the ED, completed a short baseline interview and then another interview with them over the telephone approximately two weeks after the index ED visit. The follow-up interview asks subjects whether they have completed a follow-up visit, satisfaction with the ED visit and the primary care visit, any other additional ED treatment and extent of recovery from the problem that brought them to the ED the first time.

Inclusion criteria

Patients with health insurance but report not having a primary care provider and are rated by the ED provider as needing a follow-up visit with a primary care provider (rated as moderate to high need by ED provider).

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Exclusion criteria

Patients doesn't want a primary care provider or patient doesn't want a follow-up visit. Patient is unable to understand consent, is a prisoner, or does not have access to email (because ZocDoc sends appointment information to email).

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