Why do people utilize the emergency room as their primary care physician? Two reasons — open access and because no appointment is required.

While an ER visit may indeed treat medical needs, the reality is most visits end up being more about peace of mind. Recent statistics by the Center for Disease Control show a sharp increase in the number of ER visits combined with a sharp decrease in the number of true emergencies. That means more and more people are using the ER as an "after-hours doctor’s office," especially because many people don’t establish a relationship with a primary care physician until they absolutely need to.

Unfortunately, the access patients get in an emergency room comes at significant expense with the average ER visit costs three to five times higher than a regular office visit.

Beyond hitting consumers in their wallets, these needless ER visits place a greater demand on the health care system, resulting in higher health care costs system wide. Health care costs grew 8.3 percent in 2000, 11 percent in 2001, and an estimated 13 percent for the year 2002.

In total, as much as $300 billion of health care costs are unnecessary, inappropriate and/or wasteful. Rising health care costs result in higher insurance costs, making coverage more expensive for groups and for individuals.

That's where Doctor On Call comes in. Doctor On Call provides convenience at a fraction of the cost and in the fraction of the time. At any time of the day or night, our service provides easy access to medical information that can help eliminate unnessary visits to the emergency room or doctor's office … while still providing medical peace of mind. The more your employees call the service, the more valuable Doctor On Call will become — because they will make a habit of making the call to our Board Certified physicians before making an unnecessary trip to the emergency room. And in those cases when additional medical attention is warranted, our Board Certified physicians have the expertise and experience to advise the caller on what measures to take — making a doctor's appointment, visiting an urgent care facility or going to the emergency room. It’s an easy, additional step that gives people the health information they need anytime they need it.

As an added benefit to businesses, Doctor On Call tracks member plan card usage to document the savings to your health plan cost. By establishing a database comparing call outcomes and any resulting medical visits or further expense, the savings to the insured group can be established.