Clin Exp Emerg Med.  2016 Mar;3(1):46-51. 10.15441/ceem.15.082.

Efficient utilization of the limited number of emergency medicine specialists and statistics related to clinical outcomes in the emergency department

• Kwon JH
• Sohn CH
• Lee JH
• Oh BJ

• KMID: 2360974
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.15441/ceem.15.082

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The supply of emergency medicine (EM) specialists has not been able to meet demand in the past decade. This study comparatively analyzed clinical findings to provide fundamental data to inform efficient utilization of a limited number of EM specialists.
METHODS
This retrospective study included 54,204 patients who visited the emergency department of a tertiary care medical center from March 1 to December 31, 2012. The experimental specialist-supervised (SS) group included patients supervised by an EM specialist, while the control specialist-on-call (SOC) group included patients attended by a senior resident of EM with an EM specialist on call.
RESULTS
The mean length of stay in the emergency department was longer in the SS group than in the SOC group for all levels of severe-to-moderate (levels 1 to 3) and mild (levels 4 and 5) patient conditions (P<0.05). The mortality rate of severe-to-moderate patients in the SOC group was 1.63 times higher than that in patient in the SS group.
CONCLUSION
Supervision by EM specialists significantly decreased mortality in patients with severe-to-moderate condition. Therefore, EM specialists should focus on this patient group, while training residents should concentrate on patients with relatively mild conditions.

Keyword

Length of stay; Emergency service, hospital; Medical staff

MeSH Terms

Emergencies*
Emergency Medicine*
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Humans
Length of Stay
Medical Staff
Mortality
Organization and Administration
Retrospective Studies
Specialization*
Tertiary Healthcare