Temporal trends in emergency department volumes and crowding metrics in a western Canadian province: a population-based, administrative data study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Emergency Department (ED) crowding is a pervasive problem, yet there have been few comparisons of the extent of, and contributors to, crowding among different types of EDs. The study quantifies and compares crowding metrics for 16 high volume regional, urban and academic EDs in one Canadian province.

Methods

The National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) provided ED presentations by adults to 16 high volume Alberta EDs during April 2010 to March 2015 for this retrospective cohort study. Time to physician initial assessment (PIA), length of stay (LOS) for discharges and admissions were grouped by start hour of presentation and facility. Multiple crowding metrics were created by taking the means, medians (PIA-M, LOS-M), and 90th percentiles of the hourly, ED-

SUBMITTER: Rowe BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7183635 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature