THE USE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES IN THE URBAN SETTING

Abstract

Emergency rooms often are used for extremely ill patients, but they also are used and overused for non-urgent acute-care needs, especially in the urban setting where patients might not have access to primary care services. While U.S. legislation has aimed to reduce emergency-room usage for non-emergency needs, the emergency room continues to be an essential support in low-income and urban neighborhoods. Specifically, North Philadelphia residents rely on and use the emergency room for reliable care. The central premise of this thesis is that we should shift from working to curtail emergency room usage, and therefore costs, to fundamentally re-redefining the nature and identity of emergency rooms.