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Emergency department overcrowding has become an almost universal problem and is worst in urban, teaching, and high-volume EDs. Researchers evaluated the effect on patient flow of adding a triage-liaison physician to the staff at an overcrowded ED in a large urban teaching hospital in Alberta, Canada. This physician’s role was to initiate patient management, assist triage nurses (but not do actual triage), answer medical consult and transfer calls, and manage administrative issues. In a randomized study, a triage-liaison physician was assigned to work a 9-hour shift every day for 1 week during each of three 2-week periods.
During weeks when the triage-liaison physician was present, patients’ median length of stay decreased by 36 minutes (4 ho…