Emergency departments are increasingly overburdened by long wait times, complex patient cases and limited visibility into care history. But during a session at the Fall 2025 Becker’s Payer Issues Roundtable, participants argued that these transition points — if better coordinated — could drive value across the healthcare continuum.
The session featured:
- Jamie Chang, MD, chief medical officer at WellSky
- Ali Khan, MD, chief medical officer – Medicare with Aetna Medicare
- Bridgette McGrath, MSN, RN, COO of payer and emerging markets at WellSky.
Together, they laid out a case for reimagining ED transitions not just as crisis moments, but as critical engagement opportunities.
Here are four takeaways from the session:
Note: The views expressed by the panelists are their own and do not represent or imply endorsement of any programs, platforms or services. Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
1. The ED is a weak link in continuity — but a powerful engagement point
Emergency departments are often siloed from broader care networks. Patients may arrive with no care history available, and physicians rarely know what happens to the patient after discharge. Yet panelists agreed this moment — when a patient shows up vulnerable and seeking help — is a unique chance to reconnect them with their broader care team.
“We need to not think about ED visits as failures, necessarily, but as new patient engagement opportunities,” Dr. Chang said.
2. Real-time visibility and handoffs are key to better outcomes
Dr. Khan emphasized that any solution must work in the clinician’s workflow and in real time: “At the end of the day, it’s about whether that ED nurse or physician feels confident in the discharge.”
To support more coordinated transitions, WellSky is developing an ED-specific interface that surfaces real-time clinical summaries, recent test results and discharge instructions. It also embeds a team of remote emergency clinicians — including physicians and nurses — who can help arrange follow-up care, refer to community-based organizations and coordinate with payers.
“We want to make sure care is coordinated before patients leave the ED so that they don’t go home and have to make an appointment,” Ms. McGrath said.
3. Aligning incentives benefits all stakeholders
The speakers challenged the assumption that payer and provider goals are always in tension. Avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions from the ED helps not only insurers, but also hospital CFOs managing tight margins, burned-out ED staff and bed capacity.
Panelists cited the potential to reduce short-stay hospitalizations, lower readmissions and ED bounce-back rates and boost both hospital and payer quality ratings.
4. Technology enables scale, but trust enables adoption
WellSky’s platform integrates with hospital EHRs, connects to thousands of post-acute providers and uses AI to summarize key clinical insights. But panelists emphasized that technology alone is not enough. These solutions must establish trust, which requires surfacing payer benefits, such as access to wraparound services, so patients can go home with the right support, and providers know those transitions are secure.
