Non-Urgent Visits: A Challenge For Emergency Healthcare Services

Abstract

Emergency department (ED), where it is ensured that prompt, unscheduled, continuously accessible and high-quality services are provided to the patients for a plethora of fatal and critical urgencies. 1,2
Emergency Departments (EDs) are operated at the interface between the inpatient and ambulatory sectors of health care as per the requirement. EDs have become highly crowded and this is a recently diversified issue.3,4 All over the world, there are multiple reasons which lead to EDs saturation and has been brought into light by various studies.5,6 It is also noted that there is a numerical rise in non-urgent (NU) cases to EDs which also add up to this problem.6 Non Urgent cases in the EDs are those patients who are not in a life-threatening condition or situation and do not require any rapid care. They could be cared or treated for in any primary healthcare and also a delay in their medical inquiry would not cause negative consequences. 7,8
The emergency department serves as a vital link between emergency medical services and the hospital. However, as seen by year-on-year growth in patient numbers, emergency departments are increasingly being chosen as the primary means of access to the healthcare system. Triage refers to the processes used in the emergency department to assess patients' severity of injury or sickness within a short period of time following their arrival, assign priority, and send each patient to the right facility for care.7,9

Congestion of ED has numerous outcomes apart from extended patient wait time, for instance, patient disappointment and dissatisfaction, diminished efficiency of healthcare provider, and most importantly, delay in times to cater chronic patients, resulting in poor consequences. 10-12
Enhancement of primary care services are needed. Community awareness to lessen the pressure on EDs are critical components for proper ED usage.