Initial Triage Category in the ED Does Not Determine Resource Utilization

Even patients initially triaged as nonurgent may need surgery or critical care admission.

In the current debate around healthcare utilization, some believe that patients who present to emergency departments (EDs) with nonurgent complaints might be better served in other settings. To evaluate whether nonurgent triage categorization is actually predictive of resource utilization, researchers analyzed National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data from 2009 to 2011. They compared the courses of patients categorized as triage levels 1 to 4 (“urgent,” with 1 being the most acute) with those of patients categorized as level 5 (“nonurgent”). The data included almost 60,000 observations, representing 240 million ED visits among patients aged 18 to 64 years.

Overall, 7.5% of visits were classified as nonurgent. Although no…

Reviewing Author

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH, FACEP

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH, FACEP

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Initial Triage Category in the ED Does Not Determine Resource Utilization

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Reviewing Author