title: Outpatient education reduces emergency room use by patients with epilepsy.
abstract: Epilepsy is a costly diagnosis, with emergency room (ER) visits and hospital admissions comprising a large portion of total direct cost. An educational intervention to decrease the number of ER visits was implemented on outpatients with epilepsy, using educational handouts and DVD. The number of ER visits declined significantly in the four months following intervention compared with the preceding four months. This finding supports patient education as a valuable tool to reduce ER use, which may, in turn, cut down on health-care cost.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA. Electronic address: fpascual@ouhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Franchette T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Pascual
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hollen
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Swearingen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hakimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Jeanne Ann
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients / Q000193:education*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012648:Self Care; D013664:Teaching Materials; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emergency room; Epilepsy; Health-care cost; Outpatient education; Seizure