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Related Experiment Videos

Emergency department use and misuse

M Afilalo1, A Guttman, A Colacone

  • 1Emergency Department, Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The Journal of Emergency Medicine
|March 1, 1995
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Most emergency department (ED) visits are appropriate, with only 15% of patients misusing services. Reasons for ED misuse include lack of awareness of other facilities and perceived condition seriousness.

Area of Science:

  • Emergency Medicine
  • Healthcare Management

Background:

  • Emergency departments (EDs) face challenges with patient volume and resource allocation.
  • Understanding patterns of ED utilization is crucial for optimizing healthcare services.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the appropriateness of patient use of a university tertiary care teaching hospital's ED.
  • To identify factors contributing to inappropriate ED utilization.

Main Methods:

  • A 14-day survey of 849 patients in an ED.
  • Patients categorized into three groups based on the urgency and location of care required.
  • Interviews with a subset of patients to explore reasons for ED choice.

Main Results:

  • 69% of patients were appropriate ED users.

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  • 15% of patients were classified as inappropriate users, suitable for outpatient facilities (OPF).
  • 15.8% were 'gray zone' cases; common reasons for ED use included lack of awareness of OPFs, perceived condition severity, and ED proximity.

    • Conclusions:

    • Inappropriate ED use constitutes a relatively small proportion of the overall caseload.
    • Targeted patient education and improved access to outpatient facilities may reduce ED misuse.