Chest
Volume 128, Issue 6, December 2005, Pages 4051-4052
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Communications to the Editor
“Frequent Fliers” Do Not Receive a Free Trip in the Emergency Department

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.128.6.4051Get rights and content

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To the Editor:

I read with interest the article by Griswold et al (May 2005).1 The article characterized the patients who are more likely to have a high number of visits to the emergency department (ED). The study was well-conducted, confirmed previously reported data, and moved the field forward by adding solid new information.

In their article, the authors referred to the patients who had a high number of visits to the ED as “frequent fliers.” I think that the use of this term, besides being misleading

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  • Effectiveness of interventions targeting frequent users of emergency departments: A systematic review

    2011, Annals of Emergency Medicine
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    First, the high number of visits leads to concerns about their appropriateness.16,17 In the context of chronically crowded EDs18 not designed to provide longitudinal patient care over repeated visits,19,20 frequent users are often considered time-consuming “illegitimate” users of ED resources.21,22 This impression of frequent users has the potential to negatively influence the quality of care that they receive.23,24

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