Quality of care in hospital emergency departments and family physicians' offices.

Indicator conditions were used to evaluate the quality of 686 episodes of care provided in two emergency departments and in five family physicians' offices. Overall, the care was considered adequate in 53% of the emergency department cases and in 40% of the cases dealt with in family physicians' offices, the difference being significant (P less than 0.01). Referrals were very common in both settings, and when quality was assessed solely on the basis of the care actually given by the primary-care providers the difference between the two settings disappeared. Half the observed deficiencies in care related to failure to document the findings from history-taking and physical examination. From these and earlier findings we conclude that the emergency department can be an appropriate setting for the care of nontraumatic illness.