Go to the ED for a Sore Throat? Fuhgeddaboudit, Urges NY Politician

Brooklyn (NY) Borough President Eric Adams has a message for basketball fans, concert goers, and cinephiles in his native environs: Stay out of the emergency room unless you absolutely have to be there; the urgent care center is often a much better, faster, and less costly option. Adams is so keen on that message that he recorded a series of public service announcements that play in the Barclays Center arena and high-end movie theaters in Brooklyn, among other locales. In one of the videos, which features a split-screen image of the entrances to a hospital ED and an urgent care center, Adams tells viewers that unnecessary trips to the ED cost Americans $38 billion every year. What’s more, the heavy traffic makes it harder for people with truly emergent concerns to get the help they need quickly, while other people who could be in-and-out of the urgent care center instead sit and wait for hours in the ED. “Our goal is to help reduce these health costs and, more importantly, make sure everyone gets quality medical care in a timely and efficient manner,” Adams says. The message for the marketplace is that everyone, from patients to operators to local officials, has a vested interest in improving access to affordable care. Who can you tap in your community to help spread the word?