Quickly and well… A survey on customer satisfaction of low injury severity scores in ER

Abstract

Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding is a situation in which the demand for emergency services exceeds the ability to provide care within a reasonable time. A recent report by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health addresses the issue. Among the implication for decision making, a strong point is the fact that evidence suggests that fast tracking patients with minor injuries or illnesses can reduce ED length of stay, waiting time, and the number of patients who leave without being seen. According to these findings, the Authors describe their experience with the so called white code ambulatory which is a strategy to divert patients with minor injuries or illnesses in a different setting. The experience has been evaluated with a customer satisfaction survey that has shown a good level of satisfaction among patients. There seems to be no opportunistic increase of demand by patients of health care delivery.