Rural Interfacility Emergency Department Transfers: Framework and Qualitative Analysis

Introduction: Interfacility transfers from rural emergency departments (EDs) are an important means of access to timely and specialized care.Methods: Our goal was to identify and explore facilitators and barriers in transfer processes and their implications for emergency rural care and access. Semi-structured interviews with ED staff at five rural and two urban Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using an iterative inductive-deductive approach to identify themes and construct a conceptual framework.Results: From 81 interviews with clinical and administrative staff between March –June 2018, four themes in the interfacility transfer process emerged: 1) patient factors; 2) system resources; and 3) processes and communication for transfers, which culminate in 4) the location decision. Current and anticipated resource limitations were highly influential in transfer...
Source: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Source Type: research