Outpatient education reduces emergency room use by patients with epilepsy

• We collected data on seizure-related ER visits of clinic patients with epilepsy.
• Participants received educational handouts and were offered to watch optional DVD.
• 24.4% of patients with epilepsy made an ER visit for four months prior to education.
• No patient sought ER service for four months after education.
• Reduced ER visit was universal, regardless if educational DVD was watched or not.

Epilepsy is a costly diagnosis, with emergency room (ER) visits and hospital admissions comprising a large portion of total direct cost. An educational intervention to decrease the number of ER visits was implemented on outpatients with epilepsy, using educational handouts and DVD. The number of ER visits declined significantly in the four months following intervention compared with the preceding four months. This finding supports patient education as a valuable tool to reduce ER use, which may, in turn, cut down on health-care cost.