ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Student-run free clinics (SRFCs) provide care to medically underserved individuals who may otherwise utilize the emergency department (ED) for primary care. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the effect of enrollment at the DAWN SRFC in Aurora, Colorado on University of Colorado ED utilization. METHODS: Th is was a retrospective longitudinal analysis of 164 patients who established care at the DAWN clinic and were also seen at the nearby ED over an eight-year period. A paired t-test was used on the full cohort and a linear mixed effects model was used on a guaranteed at-risk subset with ED visits before and aft er care initiation at the DAWN clinic. RESULTS: Average ED visits decreased from 1.48 to 0.95 for the full cohort (p=.0002). In the guaranteed at-risk subset, a 0.98 visit decrease per person (p=.0217) was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Patient enrollment at the DAWN clinic was associated with a statistically significant reduction in all-cause ED visits.
