The emergency room is the most expensive place for people to go for primary care. Patients that do that really drive up the cost of healthcare. St. Charles in Bend has implemented an ER diversion programs that has had some pretty amazing results. They followed more than one hundred patients who had visited the ER nearly 800 times in 2010. Jim Diegel is the CEO of St. Charles Healthcare System. “The average Medicaid patient that goes to the ER on averages spends $2000.  But the 144 patients we followed, the average cost if $66,000, so that's pretty significant dollars there.” The program pairs up healthcare workers and high risk patients to educate them on seeking reasonable healthcare and help them navigate the system.