The Emergency Room Medical Group

Improving Hospital Efficiency

Abstract

With national health care expenditures in the United States consuming 14 percent of the gross domestic product, the U.S. health care industry faces a turbulent environment. Adding to this situation, health care executives are having a difficult time developing strategies for dealing with patients who use the emergency room for primary care. Hospital executives may consider forming an Emergency Room Medical Group (ERMG). ERMGs are defined (as well as their alternative health care alliances), and each is illustrated in a model called the Physician Alliance Continuum.