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Original Research
Mohammad Faramarzi
Medical Student Research Committee & Social Determinant of Health Research center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Corresponding Author
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
The long-standing challenge of emergency department (ED) overcrowding facing central hospitals is often aggravated once inadequate human resources mandate collaboration by companions in terms of laboratory sample transfer, patient transfers within health care facility, or so on. In this study, a digital queuing system (DQS) was developed and evaluated based on the overall goal of triage; thereby, emergency physicians could call companions into the ED, solely on the time they were required to cooperate.
Materials and Methods
To this end, patient arrivals into the ED, wherein this trial was conducted in, were classified using the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) (Version 4) as a five-level ED triage algorithm. Accordingly, patients with triage levels 3 and 4, typically accounting for the majority of the ED overcrowding were included in this trial. At the time of reception, the DQS was also recruited to locate their companions in two different queues. Subsequently, physicians recalled each companion from a station inside the ED, precisely on the time that their patients were being visited. Consecutively, the medical staff filled questionnaires on 30 shifts without the DQS as the control group and on 50 shifts with the DQS as the case group. They correspondingly utilized the Relative Chaos Scale (RCS) to quantify the levels of tension in their shifts from 1 to 10 and to report it in the questionnaires.
Results
The implementation of the DQS could significantly mitigate the RCS reported by either nurses or residents or interns (p<0.001).
Conclusion
It was concluded that DQSs in EDs seem as strong potential tools, which can be developed in accordance with the overall goal of triage. Such modified DQSs can further assist in ED overcrowding control, keeping companions out of EDs until the exact time they are needed.
Keywords
Digital Queuing System, Emergency Department, Overcrowding Management
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A new preprint design is coming!
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This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Original Research
Mohammad Faramarzi
Medical Student Research Committee & Social Determinant of Health Research center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Corresponding Author
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 19 Nov, 2020
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Critical Care & Emergency Medicine
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
The long-standing challenge of emergency department (ED) overcrowding facing central hospitals is often aggravated once inadequate human resources mandate collaboration by companions in terms of laboratory sample transfer, patient transfers within health care facility, or so on. In this study, a digital queuing system (DQS) was developed and evaluated based on the overall goal of triage; thereby, emergency physicians could call companions into the ED, solely on the time they were required to cooperate.
Materials and Methods
To this end, patient arrivals into the ED, wherein this trial was conducted in, were classified using the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) (Version 4) as a five-level ED triage algorithm. Accordingly, patients with triage levels 3 and 4, typically accounting for the majority of the ED overcrowding were included in this trial. At the time of reception, the DQS was also recruited to locate their companions in two different queues. Subsequently, physicians recalled each companion from a station inside the ED, precisely on the time that their patients were being visited. Consecutively, the medical staff filled questionnaires on 30 shifts without the DQS as the control group and on 50 shifts with the DQS as the case group. They correspondingly utilized the Relative Chaos Scale (RCS) to quantify the levels of tension in their shifts from 1 to 10 and to report it in the questionnaires.
Results
The implementation of the DQS could significantly mitigate the RCS reported by either nurses or residents or interns (p<0.001).
Conclusion
It was concluded that DQSs in EDs seem as strong potential tools, which can be developed in accordance with the overall goal of triage. Such modified DQSs can further assist in ED overcrowding control, keeping companions out of EDs until the exact time they are needed.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
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