Achieving Efficiency in Crowded Emergency Departments: A Research Agenda

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2011-12-13

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Ward, Michael J. et al.; Achieving Efficiency in Crowded Emergency Departments: A Research Agenda; Academic Emergency Medicine, 18, 12, p 1303-1312, 13 December, 2011; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2011.01222.x

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Public Domain Mark 1.0
This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.

Subjects

Abstract

In 2011, Academic Emergency Medicine convened a consensus conference entitled “Interventions to Assure Quality in the Crowded Emergency Department.” This article, a product of the breakout session on “interventions to safeguard efficiency of care,” explores various elements of the research agenda on efficiency and quality in crowded emergency departments (EDs). The authors discuss four areas identified as critical to achieving progress in the research agenda for improving ED efficiency: 1) What measures can be used to understand and improve the efficiency and quality of interventions in the ED? 2) Which factors outside of the ED’s control affect ED efficiency? 3) How do workforce factors affect ED efficiency? 4) How do ED design, patient flow structures, and use of technology affect efficiency? Filling these knowledge gaps is vital to identifying interventions that improve the delivery of emergency care in all EDs.