Can J Emerg Med
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Multicenter Study
Patient expectations of emergency department care: phase II--a cross-sectional survey.
To explore emergency department (ED) patient expectations regarding staff communication with patients, wait times, the triage process and information management. ⋯ ED patient expectations appear to be similar across all triage levels. Patients value effective communication and short wait times over many other aspects of care. They have expectations for short wait times that are met infrequently and are currently unattainable in many Canadian EDs. Although it may be neither feasible nor desirable to meet all patient expectations, increased focus on wait times and staff communication may increase both ED efficiency and patient satisfaction.