Emergency Department Case Study

1035 Words5 Pages
Emergency Department This discussion will provide insights regarding the challenges that face ED managers and the plans they develop to correct these issues. For this purpose, I interviewed Dr. Evelyn Cancel; a physician with over 12 years experience leading emergency services. She is the Chief of Emergency Services at a private clinic. Hence, the interview was very productive and I felt honored to shared ideas with her. We used to work together; I worked in radiology while she was laboring at ER. But, before moving forward, I will present important information about the socioeconomic status of the Island, an overview of the health services in Puerto Rico and some characteristics about the clinic. This report also includes the analysis of…show more content…
The facility is located in a small town of Puerto Rico. The modern clinic is equipped with an emergency department, a pharmacy, a clinical laboratory, an imaging center, medical offices, ambulatory OR, and facilities for stereotactic biopsies. The facility is focus on technology innovations. It is the one and only stabilization unit in the rural area before transferring patients to hospitals. The clinic provides 24/7 services. Although Dr. Cancel did not provide an exact numbers of clinician staff and beds at ED, she mentioned the most demanding shifts were on weekends from 3:00 to 11:00 pm. Therefore, the average waiting time varies from 47 minutes through 80 minutes depending on triage screening and patients’ conditions. Local Health Services Actually, Puerto Rico is struggling with a deep economic recession. In secondary and tertiary hospitals patients can wait over 10 hours to receive medical care. Consequently, ED work environment turns into a hostile place because patients feel unattended and health professionals work under pressure. Since 2009, Puerto Rico has increased by 25% the number of registered nurses, but continues to have a shortage of specialist doctors, including emergency physicians and surgeons. Compared to the U.S. average, Puerto Rico has less than half of emergency physicians and specialists, including orthopedist and neurosurgeons. Interview…show more content…
Input refers to the demand for care services, either emergency or urgent. Although ED stands for these purposes the majority of patients recognizes non-urgent situations as emergencies. Therefore, patients believe they can access non-urgent care through ED. Throughput is the second component of the model which focuses on the time patients spent in ED. Time, includes the transit of patients through triage, evaluation, treatments, and diagnostic testing. Severity and complications of the conditions as well of a large number of patients in observation affect ED throughput by increasing the time and number of clinicians require for addressing medical concerns. The output refers to patients’ discharges and patients’

More about Emergency Department Case Study

Open Document