J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2011 Feb;22(1):93-99.

Does the General Public Comply with Hospital Guidance Conveyed at the Emergency Medical Information Center?

• Han SK
• Joo YM
• Jeong J
• Yeom SR
• Cho SJ
• Park MR
• Min MG
• Kim YI
• Ryu JH

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study investigated the compliance of the general public to the guidance conveyed by hospital emergency medical information centers.
METHODS
This study included the incidences of inquiry on hospitals and clinics to Busan Emergency Medical Information Center by the general public for a 2-week period from January 4-17, 2009. Information obtained included general characteristics, time of hospital arrival and departure, length of hospitalization, hospitals visited, and treatment outcome.
RESULTS
A total of 939 incidences of hospital guidance to the general public were examined. The degree of compliance was 71.2%, the ratio of the primary and secondary facility that the participants visited were 88.6% and 93.5% of the participants in this study were discharged from hospitals after their visit. Patients who complied with the information received displayed a shorter period of hospitalization than non-compliant patients.
CONCLUSION
Emergency medical information centers may help ease the unnecessary use of emergency rooms by providing information on diseases to the general public and effectively distributing medical resources with guidance to proper hospitals according to the degree of symptoms.

Keyword

Information centers; Emergency Medical Services; Access to Information

MeSH Terms

Access to Information
Compliance
Emergencies
Emergency Medical Services
Hospitalization
Humans
Incidence
Information Centers