Exploring The Unmet Needs of Medicare Frequent Users of Emergency Room Departments: A Theoretical Literature Review

For over a decade now, healthcare reform has been front and center in public and political forums, largely driven by concerns about access, cost, quality, and the economic burden placed on patients, employers, and payers. Despite the significant improvement in Medicare spending in recent years, frequent emergency department use continues to be a recurring issue for many Medicare beneficiaries. This research will examine the literature on Medicare frequent users of emergency departments. While frequent users of emergency departments are a small proportion of all patients, they account for a disproportionate number of visits to the emergency department. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services efforts focus on decreasing costs and improving the quality of care. It is important to understand the characteristics of Medicare frequent users of emergency departments to target this population more effectively through policy intervention. To understand this population, this review will focus on demographics, degree and type of illness, access to medical care, patterns of utilization, and challenges experienced by this population.