ORAHS2025
Abstract Submission

208. Keep Waiting or Leave Without Being Seen? The Impact of Early Assessment in Emergency Departments

Invited abstract in session MD-3: ED and ICU, stream Sessions.

Monday, 13:30-15:00
Room: NTNU, Realfagbygget R9

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Chiara Morlotti
Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering, University of Bergamo
2. Mattia Cattaneo
Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering, University of Bergamo

Abstract

Leaving the emergency department (ED) without being seen (LWBS) is acknowledged to lead to serious consequences, such as worsening health conditions and increased resource utilization, including a higher risk of hospital (re)admission. To help reduce this phenomenon, alternative strategies have been introduced. One of these is early assessment, defined as any interaction between healthcare professionals and patients, such as monitoring of health conditions and preliminary treatment, that takes place before the formal medical evaluation by a physician.
In this study, we investigate the role of early assessment in reducing the probability that a patient leaves the ED before being seen. By leveraging one year of data encompassing all ED accesses to a multi-hospital network in Northern Italy, we perform logistic regression and survival analysis to assess its impact on patients’ likelihood of staying until their medical evaluation — that is, the probability of being present when called for the physician’s visit.
Our findings reveal that early assessment reduces the likelihood of LWBS by approximately 25%. Additionally, we also demonstrate that patients who experience longer waiting times are more likely to leave without being seen.

Keywords

Status: accepted

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