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Got a bum leg?

Well if you do, maybe you should call ahead to the emergency room instead of immediately driving over. A new by doctors from in Boston suggests that hospitals could save time and money if patients with ankle sprains and other lower extremity injuries talk to a health provider first, then schedule an appointments rather than come to the emergency department during regular business hours. Seems simple enough, but research shows that in 2009, lower leg strains and sprains accounted for more than 30 percent of ER visits.

In an effort to combat overcrowded emergency rooms, Dr. David Ring, one of the authors of the study, said that using triage procedures such as special phone lines might help.

鈥淲hat the data show are that there are alternative methods to provide health care聽for leg injury because so many of them are relatively minor,鈥� Ring told KHN in an e-mail.

Ring and his colleagues reviewed data on leg injuries from the federal 鈥� which monitors injuries in emergency rooms 聽in about 100 hospitals 鈥� and conducted follow-up clinical research. They found that most patients with leg injuries evaluated in the ER had relatively minor problems that don鈥檛 require an ER visit. 聽鈥淎 sore injured leg certainly feels like it needs immediate attention. 聽But we know enough about leg injuries that a simple phone triage might allow some patients to avoid the long waits and inconveniences of the ED without any adverse health effects,鈥� Ring said.

Scotland鈥檚 national health care system, for example, is looking into conducting a telephone follow up for patients with leg injuries, Ring noted. 鈥淭hese types of things merit additional study鈥攚e should explore these opportunities,鈥� he said.

Every week, Kaiser Health News reporter Shefali S. Kulkarni聽compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs. 聽Read more in the .