| dc.description.abstract | Emergency department congestion can causes poor medical treatment outcomes for
patients worldwide. In addition, it reduces the quality of medical treatment in the
emergency room. The implementation of the National Health Insurance System in 1995
in Taiwan lowered medical expenses and the threshold for people to seek medical
treatment. It means that high number of patients with mild symptoms can be present in
the emergency department, which increases waiting times for all. The emergency room
is available for patients with acute and severe symptoms. It is designed to use the limited
time for treatment. However, too many non-emergency patients can delay the treatment
time of emergency patients and worsen their condition when medical resources are
limited. In addition, medical staff can be overworked, which leads to a shortage of
medical talent in the emergency department. This study used the National Health
Insurance Database from 2000–2005 to assess the effect of the number of patients with
mild symptoms on emergency patient outcomes in medical centers. We included patients
with myocardial infarction, hemorrhagic stroke, and obstructive stroke. Most patients
with mild symptoms choose to visit the emergency department during the weekend and
night periods; therefore, we evaluated whether treatment outcomes were affected by
emergency department congestion during these periods. Interestingly, we found no
significant effect of mild patient numbers on the treatment outcomes of patients with
severe disease, including during the weekend and night periods. In summary, there was
no effect the number of non-emergent patients on the treatment outcome of severe
patients. | en_US |