Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Understanding the reasons patients decide to attend a particular acute care service, and their expectations of that service, is important in providing optimal patient care. The present study aimed to determine factors influencing patient decisions to attend a private Australian ED, an issue that has not been previously addressed in the literature. ⋯ Patients chose to use the private ED because of prior experience, proximity, and an expectation they would be seen promptly and be provided with competent care.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2015
Predicting the number of emergency department presentations in Western Australia: A population-based time series analysis.
To predict the number of ED presentations in Western Australia (WA) in the next 5 years, stratified by place of treatment, age, triage and disposition. ⋯ ED demand in WA will exceed population growth. The highest growth will be in patients with complex care needs. An integrated system-wide strategy is urgently required to ensure access, quality and sustainability of the health system.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2015
Trends in access block 2011 to 2013: The Redcliffe National Emergency Access Target experience.
To evaluate the impact of the introduction of National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) on access block and long-stay patients in Redcliffe Hospital ED, and to evaluate the possibility of forward compliance with the 2014 and 2015 NEAT thresholds. ⋯ NEAT has been a driver of significant improvements in access block at our institution. We see significant issues with raising the NEAT threshold to the proposed 90% in 2015, and support recent calls for re-evaluation and modification of the target.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2015
Impact of a structured intern education programme on clinical documentation in the emergency department.
To evaluate the impact of More Learning for Interns in Emergency (MoLIE) on clinical documentation in the ED of a large regional hospital. ⋯ The introduction of MoLIE was associated with a small but statistically significant improvement in documentation, despite an 80% increase in intern placements. These results suggest that structured training programmes have potential to improve intern performance while simultaneously enhancing training capacity. The impact on quality of care requires further evaluation.