Georgia gets near-failing grades in new emergency care report

A national report released today gives Georgia’s emergency medical care near-failing grades.

The American College of Emergency Physicians second National Report Card says Georgia’s got some serious medical homework to do: Georgia ranks 31st on the list, says ACEP President Dr. Nick Jouriles:

“The emergency care system is a ticking time bomb made worse by the financial crisis, and a failing nation’s healthcare system.”

Statewide, “failing” stands for an “F” in access to emergency care.

The report also gives the state C’s and D’s for too little disaster planning, and too few medical providers serving too many uninsured residents.

Doctor Matthew Watson is an emergency room physician at Atlanta’s Northside Hospital:

“By not having all of the different subtypes of physicians available, this limits our ability to care for the patients in a timely fashion.”

And in a bustling emergency room, that means,

"If patients come into the emergency department that we can’t provide the care for, then that’s going to slow down the next patient that needs to be seen, which is ‘domino effect,’ it’s just going to slow down the providing of care to all of the patients.

The report says more than 80 percent of the state’s residents live within an hour of a Level I or II trauma center.

Watson says, however, that part of the problem is getting doctors and other medical providers to work with limited equipment in many parts of the state:

“In rural areas, you simply don’t have the facilities that could support open-heart surgery, or any of the other specialties at a smaller rural hospital.”

The report has some bright spots: Georgia ranks first in the nation for patient access to substance abuse treatment services.

As well, liability reform laws also get high marks for limiting frivolous lawsuits and lowering medical liability insurance premiums.

The report, partly funded by The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation, recommends training more emergency doctors and residents, critical medical specialists, registered nurses, and primary care providers.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of health care issues.

Health insurer error exposes personal info

Thousands of Georgians insured under health provider Blue Cross/Blue Shield may be at identity risk following the mass mailings of claims documents to wrong addresses.

Georgia insurance officials estimate over 200,000 Explanation of Benefits letters sent by Blue Cross went to wrong addresses last week. Letters included information such as a patient’s name, ID number, and amounts charged and owed. And some letters included social security numbers.

State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine says sensitive medical information of patients could be exposed.

"I’d say it’s the most serious violation of any major insurer that we’ve had since I’ve been in office, and I’ve been in office for 14 years".

Blue Cross says an improperly tested computer system change is to blame. A company statement says this is an isolated incident, and that changes have been made to prevent a repeat problem. A spokeswoman says the percentage of social security numbers exposed was small.

Blue Cross has a little over 3-million policyholders in Georgia.