Use of the SONET score to evaluate Urgent Care Center overcrowding: a prospective pilot study
| Autor: | Violet A Gorman, Chad D. Cowden, Hao Wang, Nestor R. Zenarosa, Chet D. Schrader, Eugene K Gicheru, Richard D. Robinson, Rani D Jayswal, Christopher D Cook |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Waiting Lists health care facilities manpower and services Pilot Projects Ambulatory Care Facilities Secondary outcome ACCIDENT & EMERGENCY MEDICINE otorhinolaryngologic diseases Medicine Humans Prospective Studies Prospective cohort study Crowding in business.industry Research Health services research Care center General Medicine Overcrowding social sciences Middle Aged medicine.disease Crowding Patient Outcome Assessment Single centre Emergency Medicine population characteristics Female Medical emergency business Emergency Service Hospital geographic locations |
| Zdroj: | BMJ Open |
| ISSN: | 2044-6055 |
| Popis: | Objectives To derive a tool to determine Urgent Care Center (UCC) crowding and investigate the association between different levels of UCC overcrowding and negative patient care outcomes. Design Prospective pilot study. Setting Single centre study in the USA. Participants 3565 patients who registered at UCC during the 21-day study period were included. Patients who had no overcrowding statuses estimated due to incomplete collection of operational variables at the time of registration were excluded in this study. 3139 patients were enrolled in the final data analysis. Primary and secondary outcome measures A crowding estimation tool (SONET: Severely overcrowded, Overcrowded and Not overcrowded Estimation Tool) was derived using the linear regression analysis. The average length of stay (LOS) in UCC patients and the number of left without being seen (LWBS) patients were calculated and compared under the three different levels of UCC crowding. Results Four independent operational variables could affect the UCC overcrowding score including the total number of patients, the number of results pending for patients, the number of patients in the waiting room and the longest time a patient was stationed in the waiting room. In addition, UCC overcrowding was associated with longer average LOS (not overcrowded: 133±76 min, overcrowded: 169±79 min, and severely overcrowded: 196±87 min, p |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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