OBJECTIVE: Patients, emergency department staff and hospital managers are often confronted with a prolonged length of stay of emergency department patients, with resulting overcrowding in the emergency department. We hypothesized that additional medical personnel would reduce the length of stay. METHODS: We prospectively studied consecutive patients managed in a medical emergency department by internal medicine residents during the evening shift. Data were collected on patients managed before (n=200) and after (n=160) the addition of a second physician on the shift. RESULTS: The addition of a physician in the busy evening shift decreased the length of stay from 176+/-137 to 141+/-86 min (mean+/-SD, P=0.012) for outpatients discharged after evaluation and management in the emergency department. The length of stay for emergency department inpatients admitted for hospitalization was not significantly reduced. CONCLUSION: An additional physician significantly reduced the length of stay of medical emergency department outpatients.
OBJECTIVE:Patients, emergency department staff and hospital managers are often confronted with a prolonged length of stay of emergency department patients, with resulting overcrowding in the emergency department. We hypothesized that additional medical personnel would reduce the length of stay. METHODS: We prospectively studied consecutive patients managed in a medical emergency department by internal medicine residents during the evening shift. Data were collected on patients managed before (n=200) and after (n=160) the addition of a second physician on the shift. RESULTS: The addition of a physician in the busy evening shift decreased the length of stay from 176+/-137 to 141+/-86 min (mean+/-SD, P=0.012) for outpatients discharged after evaluation and management in the emergency department. The length of stay for emergency department inpatients admitted for hospitalization was not significantly reduced. CONCLUSION: An additional physician significantly reduced the length of stay of medical emergency department outpatients.
Authors: Nathan R Hoot; Larry J LeBlanc; Ian Jones; Scott R Levin; Chuan Zhou; Cynthia S Gadd; Dominik Aronsky Journal: Ann Emerg Med Date: 2008-04-03 Impact factor: 5.721
Authors: Daniel J France; Scott Levin; Ru Ding; Robin Hemphill; Jin Han; Stephan Russ; Dominik Aronsky; Matt Weinger Journal: J Patient Saf Date: 2020-03 Impact factor: 2.243
Authors: Steffie H A Brouns; Patricia M Stassen; Suze L E Lambooij; Jeanne Dieleman; Irene T P Vanderfeesten; Harm R Haak Journal: PLoS One Date: 2015-08-12 Impact factor: 3.240