Profile and Motivation of Patients Consulting in Emergency Departments While not Requiring Such a Level of Care

Daniel Aiham Ghazali, Arnaud Richard, Arnaud Chaudet, Christophe Choquet, Maximilien Guericolas and Enrique Casalino
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Daniel Aiham Ghazali: Emergency Department, University Hospital of Bichat, 75018 Paris, France
Arnaud Richard: Emergency Department, University Hospital of Bichat, 75018 Paris, France
Arnaud Chaudet: Emergency Department, University Hospital of Poitiers, 86000 Poitiers, France
Christophe Choquet: Emergency Department, University Hospital of Bichat, 75018 Paris, France
Maximilien Guericolas: Emergency Department, University Hospital of Bichat, 75018 Paris, France
Enrique Casalino: Emergency Department, University Hospital of Bichat, 75018 Paris, France

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: Consultations that do not require an emergency department (ED) level of care have increased. We explored attitudes of non-urgent patients in two academic hospitals in France with a similar fast track organization. One of them is a Parisian hospital with 90,000 patients/year who are admitted to the ED, while the other admits 40,000 patients/year in a smaller city. During one month in 2018, the triage nurse handed out a survey to patients coming for non-urgent consultations. It was given back to the fast track physician at the end of the visit; 598 patients agreed to answer. They were mostly young males with adequate social coverage, consulting for osteo-articular pathologies, without any significant difference between the two sites ( p = 0.32). They were equally satisfied with the care they received ( p = 0.38). Satisfaction was inversely correlated to waiting time ( p < 0.0001). Convenience, accessibility of emergency facilities, and geographic proximity were motivation factors. These results suggest that primary care providers who can access testing facilities in accordance with patient needs might be a solution to help reduce overcrowding in EDs.

Keywords: emergency department; non-urgent consult; profile; motivation; overcrowding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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