Author:
Betz Martin,Stempien James,Trevidi Sachin,Bryce Rhonda
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Objectives
Emergency department (ED) lengths of stay are measured from the time of
patient registration or triage. The time that patients wait in line prior to
registration and triage has not been well described. We sought to characterize
pre-triage wait times and compare them to recommended physician response times,
as per the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS).
Methods
This observational study documented the time that consenting patients
entered the ED and the time that they were formally registered and triaged.
Participants’ CTAS scores were collected from the electronic record. Patients
arriving to the ED by ambulance were excluded.
Results
A total of 536 participants were timed over 13 separate intervals. Of
these, 11 left without being triaged. Participants who scored either CTAS 1 or
2 (n=53) waited a median time of 3.1 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.43, 11.1)
minutes. Patients triaged as CTAS 3 (n=187) waited a median of 11.4 (IQR: 1.6,
24.9) minutes, CTAS 4 (n=139) a median of 16.6 (IQR: 6.0, 29.7) minutes, and
CTAS 5 (n=146) a median of 17.5 (IQR: 6.8, 37.3) minutes. Of patients
subsequently categorized as CTAS 1 or 2, 20.8% waited longer than the
recommended time-to-physician of 15 minutes to be triaged.
Conclusions
All urban EDs closely follow patients’ wait times, often stratified
according to triage category, which are assumed to be time-stamped upon a
patient’s arrival in the ED. We note that pre-triage times exceed the CTAS
recommended time-to-physician in a possibly significant proportion of patients.
EDs should consider documenting times to treatment from the moment of patient
arrival rather than registration.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Cited by
7 articles.
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