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Overcrowding kills: How COVID‐19 could reshape emergency department patient flow in the new normal
Author(s) -
Dinh Michael M,
Berendsen Russell Saartje
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/1742-6723.13700
Subject(s) - overcrowding , medicine , covid-19 , medical emergency , emergency department , health care , perspective (graphical) , focus (optics) , intensive care medicine , public health , patient safety , nursing , economic growth , physics , disease , pathology , artificial intelligence , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , optics , economics
The ongoing public health crisis due to COVID‐19 highlights the importance of a coordinated system‐wide approach to health resource management, and the need to mitigate the risk of ED overcrowding. We provide a brief perspective on the current evidence and why a fundamental shift in approach is required. Current time‐based performance targets have hindered efforts to address core issues around patient flow in EDs. A stronger focus on optimising hospital occupancy, clinician engagement and data would facilitate more appropriate and sustainable solutions to the problem. Appropriate policy drivers are required to facilitate whole‐of‐hospital models of care, with a focus on avoidable admissions, complications and reduced hospital length of stay.