The Emergency Department as the Front Door to Care in the Bronx

The Bronx Community Health Network (BCHN) is a nonprofit organization and federally qualified health center that sponsors fifteen community and school-based health centers in the Bronx. The health centers are owned and operated by Montefiore Medical Center and Acacia/Promesa Systems. At one site, Montefiore’s Weiler Hospital Emergency Department, BCHN funds a Patient Liaison who runs BCHN’s Emergency Department Diversion Program. The Patient Liaison works to prevent unnecessary readmission to the emergency department (ED) by connecting patients to primary care at BCHN health centers. The Capstone team conducted a program evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the ED Diversion program and to explore the drivers that continue to bring patients to the ED for non-emergent care and primary care. The team accomplished this by conducting a comprehensive literature review, interviewing key stakeholders, coordinating patient focus groups and analyzing secondary data.