Establishing Care with a Primary Care Provider

Author

Ashley WhitlatchFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2022

Document Type

DNP Project

Project Team Faculty Member

Laurie Hopper

Project Team Faculty Member

Greg Jennings

Keywords

Primary care provider, patient outcomes, continuity of care, urgent care, emergent care, establish care

Abstract

Established primary care leads to continuity of care, improved patient outcomes, and increased quality of life. There is also an improvement in the unnecessary usage of urgent care resources. The purpose of this project was to pilot a new process within the urgent or emergent care setting to ensure that patients who are not established with a primary care provider (PCP) have an appointment set before they are discharged. Staff were educated and trained in how to schedule primary care appointments for at-large patients. There are a high number of individuals who do not have a primary care provider. When an individual does not have a primary care provider, there is an increased rate of morbidities and mortalities along with decreased urgent/emergent care wait times and decreased pressure on health care providers. Results showed that primary care appointments were made for 44 patients, and 23 of them were compliant. Twenty percent of these patients previously had a PCP but were non-compliant. All but two of these patients re-established care. Overall, staff within the clinic were pleased with the process and the decrease in clinic congestion. Some limitations included primary care offices not having adequate appointment slots and staff scheduling visits incorrectly.

Recommended Citation

Whitlatch, Ashley, "Establishing Care with a Primary Care Provider" (2022). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 193.
https://spark.siue.edu/dnpprojects/193

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