NJ.com published the following article on 3/23/2014. To read the full article, click here.

Trenton hospital and health center team up to reduce unnecessary ER visits

Cristina Rojas | March 23, 2014

To deter people from turning to emergency rooms for care of a cough or a sneeze, the Henry J. Austin Health Center has a promising approach to delivering better health care: the medical home, where each person has a primary-care doctor and a team of professionals who can provide them with comprehensive, quality care.

“This is the direction we need to go if we want to make sure our city residents get the best care possible,” said Dr. Kemi Alli, chief medical officer. “Primary care is best had in the medical home, not in the emergency department.”

The diversion program, which began last year, is a collaborative effort between the health center and Capital Health Regional Medical Center to steer people away from the emergency room to a primary-care doctor.

“If you have a cough, they (emergency room personnel) treat the cough. If you have a backache, they treat the backache,” Alli said. “We treat the whole person.”

Even if patients come in with a cough, they will make sure that women have had a mammogram, men a prostate exam or, for those with diabetes or high blood pressure, routine checkups.

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