title: What have five years of the shorter stays in the emergency department health target done to us?
abstract: This paper reviews the first five years of the shorter stays in the emergency department national health target--its genesis, implementation and impact. Five years of the target have seen a maturing 'whole-of-system' collaboration leading to better patient care. However, there is still much to do and demand continues to increase. Assisted by the Quality framework and suite of quality measures for the Emergency Department phase of acute patient care in New Zealand, a good structure and methodology driving improvement, and a patient centred focus, this work must continue.
authors.affiliation: University of Otago, Christchurch, Emergency Department, Christchurch Hospital, Private Bag 4710, Christchurch. Michael.ardagh@cdhb.health.nz.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ardagh
authors.forename: Lynette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Drew
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D009520:New Zealand; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013997:Time Factors