J Emerg Med
-
Return visits to the Emergency Department (ED) requiring admission are frequently reviewed for the purpose of quality improvement. Treating physicians typically perform this review, but it is unclear if they accurately identify the reasons for the returns. ⋯ Both returns and the subset of returns due to potential deficiencies in management are more common than previously estimated, rendering review of returns a valuable quality improvement tool. However, EDs should not rely exclusively on the treating physicians to identify the reason for returns, as they seem to underestimate the frequency of returns due to potential deficiencies in medical management.