Investigating the impact of an emergency information system on patient's length of stay in the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia.
The emergency department has a crucial role in saving patient's lives. Efficient and reliable information through reliable information systems contribute to effective communication in these situations and ultimately shorter lengths of stay (LOS). This exploratory, cross-sectional study evaluates a current legacy emergency system in a tertiary hospital and investigates its impact on patient's length of stay (LOS) in the emergency department. A significantly shorter LOS was found between patients whose information was available and was communicated effectively in comparison to patients whose data were not available. Furthermore, longer LOS was associated with patients who required clinical services (pathology, radiology) due to the manual retrieval of results. This study has found that future implementation of a comprehensive electronic information system will facilitate effective communication workflow and timely access to patient data in the emergency department.
College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia.
Warda
W
Bawazir
Basema
B
Saddik
Samir
S
El-Masri
D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062489:Health Impact Assessment; D007256:Information Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D057188:Workflow; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*