[Evaluation of the process and effectiveness of consultation system in the Department of Emergency Medicine].
BACKGROUND
Triage, consultations, and radiological and laboratory test processes have different effects on the total waiting time in the emergency department (ED). Under these circumstances, the importance of the consultation system process and effectiveness of consultation becomes very clear. Our aim in this study was to verify the process of the consultation system.


METHODS
This prospective and defining study was performed with 276 patients admitted to the ED. A total of 342 consultations were requested. These patients were classified as very urgent, urgent and non-urgent according to their problems, and a survey form was completed by the ED resident.


RESULTS
The most frequently requested consultation was to the Department of Internal Medicine (72%). Mean time for reply to the consultation was 29+/-43 minutes. The earliest reply to the consultation was from Cardiology while the latest responders were the general surgeons. Timeline for replying to the consultation was shorter depending on the urgency of the case.


CONCLUSIONS
In our study, we determined that the most important factor for the effectiveness of consultation was the definition of the urgency of the patients by the residents in the ED. Since the number of patients admitting to the ED will continue to increase in the future, more detailed prospective studies are needed about the efficiency of consultation in the ED.
Karakaya
Zeynep
Z
Department of Emergency Medicine, Cukurova University, Faculty of Medicine, Adana. zeynepkarakaya76@hotmail.com
Gökel
Yüksel
Y
Açikalin
Ayça
A
Karakaya
Olcay
O
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D003142:Communication; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D014218:Triage / Q000592:standards*; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult