Relationship between patient-centered provider communication and emergency room visits in the Medicaid population in North Carolina, United States

Medicaid, a joint federal-state program, finances health care for eligible low-income individuals and families in the United States. Medicaid patients use disproportionately more emergency room (ER) services than other patients in the United States. Inadequate provider communication during primary care visits might be one reason for this well-documented phenomenon. The goal of the study was to examine how patient-centered provider communication related to ER use by Medicaid patients in North Carolina.