Delaware medical journal
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Delaware medical journal · Sep 2014
Comparative StudyHospital admission rates by mode of patient arrival: a comparison between urban and suburban emergency departments.
Patients in an urban environment may utilize Emergency Departments (ED) differently than patients in a suburban environment. Previous research has demonstrated that significant differences exist among the percentage of patients admitted dependent upon their mode of arrival to the ED. The purpose of this study was to further investigate the admission rates of suburban versus urban hospitals based on patient mode of arrival. The modes of arrival that were investigated include walk-in patients, Basic Life Support (BLS) transports, and Advanced Life Support (ALS) transports. ⋯ Walk-in patients at the suburban ED required admission twice as often as in the urban ED. No significant differences in suburban ED admission rates between BLS or ALS transports existed when compared to the urban ED. This suggests that urban patients are more likely to seek non emergent care from an ED than their suburban counterparts. Patients activating emergency medical services had similar rates in these suburban and urban hospitals.