Numerous factors compel patients to seek emergency care

RE "COSTLY ER still draws many now insured" (Page A1, Oct. 6): Massachusetts lacks enough primary care physicians and specialists to treat all insured patients, not just the newly insured since the passage of the 2006 health insurance law.

If patients cannot find a doctor or have to wait months for an appointment, they may have no choice but to seek care or evaluation in the only place that's open 24/7.

ERs provide for faster diagnoses and quicker access to care than any other place. We see patients who through delay have not received treatments that could have prevented or eased their illness; patients who are older, often with more complex illness; patients who have sought care only to be told to go to the ER because the provider's office is closed or does not have an opening.

It is important not to assume that someone comes to the ER because it's their "habit" or that their use is always inappropriate. Every person who feels that they are in need of emergency care can come to the ER and be treated. It is only after treatment that a physician makes a diagnosis. Only then can it be determined whether this was an emergency. A look backward at data makes that diagnosis seem easier than it is.

Dr. JAMES FELDMAN
President
Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians
Waltham