Patient Reasons for Non-Urgent Utilization of the Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center Emergency Department

摘要

The purpose of this research study was to identify the reasons why non-urgent patients utilize the Emergency Department at Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center, from the patients' perspective. A review of the present body of literature revealed common themes why non-urgent patients typically present at emergency departments, the impacts to hospitals, and possible initiatives that could be undertaken to help alleviate non-urgent utilization of emergency departments. This study sought to explore associations between reasons for non-urgent patients visiting the emergency department through a descriptive cross-sectional design, which utilized the computation of frequencies, cross tabulation, and Chi-Square testing. A random sample of n=206 non-urgent patients who presented to the emergency department in January and February, 2004, were solicited for demographic information, as well as reasons for their visit. The results of this study will enable the hospital to gain insight into their patient population's care seeking behaviors. This information may facilitate the formulation of strategies to continue to increase the quality of care, while better meeting the health care demand.