ArticlePloS one2018
Impact of a patient-flow physician coordinator on waiting times and length of stay in an emergency department: A before-after cohort study.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Emergency department crowding in the modern era: a systematic review (2018-2025).Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Reduced left-without-being-seen rates and impact on disparities after guest services ambassadors implementation.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2025Observational
- The effect of having a physician in the triage area on the rate of patients leaving without being seen: A quality improvement initiative at King Fahad Specialist hospital.Saudi medical journal · 2024Article
- Association between prehospital recognition of acute myocardial infarction and length of stay in the emergency department.Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Experiences and perspectives of older patients with a return visit to the emergency department within 30 days: patient journey mapping.European geriatric medicine · 2022Article
- The impact of implementing a psychiatric emergency hotline on the reduction of acute hospitalizations in a Swiss tertiary hospital.BMC psychiatry · 2021Article
- Length of Stay in the Emergency Department during COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2021Article
- Applying a Human-Centered Design to Develop a Patient Prioritization Tool for a Pediatric Emergency Department: Detailed Case Study of First Iterations.JMIR human factors · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveOvercrowding is common in most emergency departments (ED). Despite the use of validated triage systems, some patients are at risk of delayed medical evaluation. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a patient-flow physician coordinator (PFPC) on the proportion of patients offered medical evaluation within time limits imposed by the Swiss Emergency Triage Scale (SETS) and on patient flow within the emergency department of a teaching urban hospital.
methodsIn this before-after retrospective cohort study, we compared the proportions of patients who received their first medical contact within SETS-imposed time limits, mean waiting times before first medical consultation, mean length of stay, and number of patients who left without being seen by a physician, between two periods before and after introducing a PFPC. The PFPC was a senior physician charged with quickly assessing in the waiting area patients who could not immediately be seen and managing patient flow within the department.
resultsBefore introducing the PFPC position, 33,605 patients were admitted, versus 36,288 after. Introducing a PFPC enabled the department to increase the proportion of patients seen within the SETS-imposed time limits from 60.1% to 69.0% (p <0.0001). Waiting times until first medical consultation were reduced on average by 27.7 minutes (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 25.9-29.5, p < .0001). No significant differences were observed as to length of stay or number of patients who left without being seen between the two study periods.
conclusionsIntroducing a physician dedicated to managing patient flow enabled waiting times until first medical consultation to be reduced, yet had no significant benefit for patient flow within the ED, nor did it reduce the number of patients who left without being seen.
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