Pediatric emergency department complaints: A three-year analysis of sources and trends
✍ Scribed by Vidya T Chande; Mananda S Bhende; Holly W Davis
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 345 KB
- Volume
- 20
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1097-6760
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
All complaints received during the three-year period. Interventions: Complaints were reviewed for reason, validity, and location at which patient was seen.
Measurements and results: One hundred seventy-six complaints from a total of 154,648 ED visits yielded a frequency of 1.1 complaints per 1,000 patient visits. Main reasons ,for dissatisfaction were misdiagnosis, billing, and inadequate treatment; 49% of complaints were judged valid. There were 0.69 complaints per 1,000 patient visits in the nonurgent medical portion of the ED. Patients seen emergently (critical care and trauma) had a significantly lower complaint frequency of 0.08 per 1,000 patient visits (P < .001 by X 2 analysis).
Conclusion: Assessment of ED complaints is useful to highlight areas of patient dissatisfaction and develop plans for improving patient care.