• Faisal T Mahmood, Mohammed M AlGhamdi, Mohammad O AlQithmi, Nasser M Faris, Muhammad U Nasir, and Ali Salman.
• From the Department of Emergency (Mahmood, AlQithmi), King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam, from the Department of Emergency (AlGhamdi), Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, from the Department of Emergency (Faris), Armed Forces Hospital, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from the Department of Internal Medicine (Nasir), King Edward Medical University, Lahore, and from the Department of Internal Medicine (Salman), Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
• Saudi Med J. 2024 Jan 1; 45 (1): 747874-78.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the effect of the presence of a physician in the triage area on the number of patients who leave without being seen (LWBS) and some of the factors affecting emergency department (ED) crowding.MethodsThis was a pre-post study carried out at King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The 3-month study, consisting of 7826 patients, was split into pre-physician and post-physician periods. Variables compared across these periods were the number of LWBS patients, length of hospital stay, time to physician, and time to disposition decision. Statistical analysis was carried out using R version 4.3.0.ResultsOur results showed that the presence of a triage physician significantly decreased the number of LWBS patients (p<0.001) and the time taken to encounter an ED physician (p<0.001). However, it did not have any significant impact on the length of hospital stay (p=0.5) or time to disposition decision (p=0.9).ConclusionThe appointment of a triage physician has streamlined patient flow and decreased LWBS rates in the ED, demonstrating the need for more thorough research in this area.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

17 keywords...

hide…