John Kight
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 148
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Hospitals have experienced an increase in the number of patients utilizing the emergency departments (ED) for treatment of non-emergency conditions and primary care services. As a result of this increase, rural hospitals have implemented services such as rural health clinics which require that a mid-level practitioner be present at least 50% of the time as the primary care provider. It is the purpose of this project to design a proposal and business plan for the implementation of a rural health clinic as means of increasing access to primary care services for patients who may utilize the ED for primary care on non-emergent conditions. A literature review was performed for the areas of patient satisfaction, ED utilization and patient flow, and nurse practitioners as primary care providers. The identified research supported the utilization and patient flow, and nurse practitioners as primary care providers. The identified research supported the utilization of nurse practitioners as primary care providers in a rural health clinic as an alternative to using the ED for non-emergency conditions and primary care services. This project included an educational presentation to the ED nursing staff of the proposed rural hospital located near the proposed rural health clinic in regard to patient triage and identification of patients appropriate for referral to a rural health clinic. A business plan was developed to evaluate th financial feasibility of the implementation of a rural health clinic staffed by nurse practitioners. Based on the results of the literature review an business plan, a recommendation to proceed with the implementation of a rural health clinic was made to the chief executive officer (CEO) of the proposed hospital. The CEO indicated that this recommendation would be presented to the hospital's board of directors.
