Relation Between Pediatric Emergency Department Activity and Patient Complexity.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Emergency Medicine
• Healthcare Operations Research
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Accurate projection of pediatric emergency department (ED) volumes is crucial for resource allocation and staffing.
• Existing studies often link ED volumes to disease severity via triage classification.
• A novel approach is needed to evaluate patient complexity beyond triage, using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between pediatric ED patient complexity, defined by CPT codes, and the day of the week.
• To determine if CPT code-based complexity influences daily patient volume trends in pediatric EDs.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of pediatric ED patient data from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2015.
• Examined the association between CPT codes, day of the week, and patient visits, including days surrounding legal holidays.

Main Results:

• Analysis included 81,698 male (54%) and 70,002 female (46%) patients.
• No statistically significant relationship was found between ED patient complexity (CPT code) and the day of the week (P = 0.41).
• Minor, non-statistically significant variations in pediatric ED volumes by day of the week were observed.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric ED patient complexity, assessed by CPT code, does not correlate with the day of the week.
• More complex, multifactorial analyses are required to effectively model ED resource constraints.
• CPT code-based modeling could enhance financial analyses for demand-capacity management in pediatric EDs.