BMC emergency medicine
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BMC emergency medicine · Aug 2019
Observational StudyDo health care professionals' perceptions help to measure the degree of overcrowding in the emergency department? A pilot study in an Italian University hospital.
Overcrowding in emergency departments (EDs) is internationally recognized as one of the greatest challenges to healthcare provision. Numerous studies have highlighted the ill-effects of overcrowding, including increased length of stay, mortality and cost per admission. This study measures overcrowding in EDs through health care professionals' perceptions of it, comparing the results with the NEDOCS score, an objectively validated measurement tool and describing meaningful tools and strategies used to manage ED overcrowding. ⋯ The subjective health care professionals' perceptions did not provide an adequate real-time measure of the current demands and capacity of the ED. A more objective measure is needed to make quality decisions about health care professional needs and the ability to manage patients to ensure the provision of proper care.
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BMC emergency medicine · Aug 2019
Real-time forecasting of emergency department arrivals using prehospital data.
Crowding in emergency departments (EDs) is a challenge globally. To counteract crowding in day-to-day operations, better tools to improve monitoring of the patient flow in the ED is needed. The objective of this study was the development of a continuously updated monitoring system to forecast emergency department (ED) arrivals on a short time-horizon incorporating data from prehospital services. ⋯ The proposed model shows increased predictability in ED patient inflow when incorporating data on patient notifications. This approach to forecasting arrivals can be a valuable tool for logistic, decision making and ED resource management.