ID Card Test Hopes to Reduce ED Visits
Arizona’s Medicaid program will pilot a new identification card that encourages Medicaid members to seek non-emergent treatment from their primary care physician or an urgent care facility before heading for the emergency department.
Arizona's Medicaid program will pilot a new identification card that encourages Medicaid members to seek non-emergent treatment from their primary care physician or an urgent care facility before heading for the emergency department.
The pilot, in Yuma County only, involves the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, which runs the Medicaid program, and Arizona Physicians IPA, whose members serve 310,000 Medicaid members in four counties.
The front of the new ID card, given only to members served by the IPA, includes the name, address and phone number of a member's primary care physician. On the back is a list of the name, address, phone and hours of operation for each urgent care center in Yuma County.
--Joseph Goedert
The pilot, in Yuma County only, involves the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, which runs the Medicaid program, and Arizona Physicians IPA, whose members serve 310,000 Medicaid members in four counties.
The front of the new ID card, given only to members served by the IPA, includes the name, address and phone number of a member's primary care physician. On the back is a list of the name, address, phone and hours of operation for each urgent care center in Yuma County.
--Joseph Goedert