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Volume 2020, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0253-8253
  • EISSN: 2227-0426

Abstract

One of the endpoints for assessing the emergency department (ED) performance is the left-without-being-seen (LWBS) proportion. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of increasing proportions of on-duty emergency medicine (EM) trainees on LWBS rates in clinical shifts. The study was conducted at an urban-academic-ED (annual census: 452,757) over a period of one year. We employed multivariate linear regression ( < 0.05) defining significance to identify and adjust for multiple LWBS influencers related to patient care. After analyzing over 1098 shifts, the median LWBS rate was 8.9% (interquartile range 5.3% to 13.5%). The increasing number of EM trainees in the ED did not adversely impact the LWBS; the opposite was noted. In univariate analysis, the increasing proportion of on-duty EM trainee physicians was significantly ( < 0.001) associated with a decrease in the LWBS rates. The multivariate model adjusted for the statistically significant and confounding LWBS influencers, with an absolute increase of 1% in trainees’ proportion of overall on-duty physician coverage, was associated with an absolute decrease of 2.1% in LWBS rates (95% confidence interval 0.43% to 3.8%,  = 0.014). At the study site, there was a statistically and operationally significant improvement in LWBS associated with partial replacement of board-certified specialist-grade EM physicians with EM residents and fellow trainees.

© 2020 Jenkins, Pathan, Moinudheen, Qureshi, Qureshi, Farook, Thomas, licensee HBKU Press.
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2020-04-01
2024-11-14
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/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2020.7
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The Impact of On-duty Emergency Medicine Trainees on Left-Without-Being-Seen Rates in an Academic Emergency Department
Qatar Medical Journal 2020, 7 (2020); https://doi.org/10.5339/qmj.2020.7
/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2020.7
/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2020.7
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): ED Key performance Indicators, EM Trainees, Emergency Department, Emergency Medicine operations, Left-Without-Being-Seen and LWBS

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