`MINOR EMERGENCY' CARE PROVES A SUCCESS LOCALLY

Convenient Care, the "minor emergency" treatment service at St. Francis Medical Center, has proven a success, says the director of emergency services.

Linda Brown, trauma nurse and director of emergency services at St. Francis, "It's doing exactly what we hoped it would do."

The program has helped reduce waiting time in the medical center's emergency room.

Convenient Care, which opened its doors Aug. 26, guarantees treatment for emergency room patients within one hour or the doctor and room fee of $35 are free.

Convenient Care is part of the medical center's two-tier emergency room system. The more traditional emergency room service is reserved for patients with true emergency illnesses or injuries.

Brown said that since the service began, 1,270 patients have been seen in Convenient Care.

Brown said, "The patients all did not come in seeking Convenient Care, but when they were told they were eligible for the program, most were happy to slip in."

In that same time, the hospital has had to make good on its guarantee for about 50 patients.

"We waived the base fee on these patients either because their condition was a little more severe than we originally thought or because we were really busy."

She added that patients who were not charged were "real surprised."

Word of the program has begun to spread. "Now we have a lot of people coming in who want to be seen in Convenient Care," Brown said. "But some need to go through the regular ER. We still have some education to do about what exactly a minor illness is."

The program makes use of a triage nurse who does an initial screening of people who come to the emergency room.

Brown said the total number of emergency room patients since Convenient Care opened is up about 1,500 patients over the same time last year.

"But it's up everywhere, at all the area emergency rooms," she said.

Convenient Care patients account for less than a fourth of all emergency room patients.

"What this program does is try to keep the acute care beds open for patients who need acute care.

"What we have done helps the flow for both Convenient Care patients and other emergency patients," she said.

While sufficient data is not yet available, Brown said she feels overall waiting time is down in the emergency room.

When the service began, Brown said, hospital officials were concerned that patients might try to replace their regular doctors with the emergency room service. That has not happened.

"People really are not looking to replace their doctors. The things we see are things people don't want to wait six or eight hours to see a doctor."

Brown said she believes most people treated through Convenient Care would have come to the emergency room anyway.

Convenient Care is housed within the hospital's existing emergency department.

The service is offered from 2-10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

Convenient Care's base fee of $35 includes room and emergency physician fees, but does not include other services, like laboratory charges, X-ray fees and supplies.

Convenient Care deals with patients who have illnesses and injuries such as cold and flu symptoms, minor cuts, bruises, minor burns, bites, stings, sprains and simple eye irritations.

The one-hour clock begins after the initial screening once a patient is registered in the computer.