Cooke, M.W., Arora, P. and Mason, S. . (2003) Discharge from triage: modelling the potential in different types of emergency department. Emergency Medicine Journal, Vol.20 (No.2). pp. 131-133. ISSN 1472-0205

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Abstract

Objective: To assess the potential for patients to be assessed and discharged directly from triage in an emergency department (ED). Methods: Modelling was undertaken by collection of retrospective electronic data from four different EDs. Serial removal of groups was undertaken using data from coding systems related to patients details of admission/treatment/investigations and procedure undertaken. The final group left were analysed for ambulance usage, prior primary care consultation, and age group. Results: 29.4% patients were discharged after clinical assessment but without any specific treatment or investigation. It was seen that of the patients who can be considered for discharge from triage, 15.5% were brought to the ED by ambulance, 3.5% were patients who had already consulted primary, care, and 11% were children. Conclusions: This study suggests that a large percentage of patients seen in EDs may not require the extra facilities of that department. There is potential for a large number to be discharged within a few minutes of arrival if appropriate assessment skills are available at first contact. This may require more senior assessment than is currently used. This study has not assessed safety of such a system or the times of day when it is best deployed.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Journal or Publication Title:	Emergency Medicine Journal
Publisher:	BMJ Group
ISSN:	1472-0205
Date:	March 2003
Volume:	Vol.20
Number:	No.2
Number of Pages:	3
Page Range:	pp. 131-133
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/9905

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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