Resource Utilization During Low-Acuity Pediatric Emergency Department Visits

Objectives The aims of the study were to estimate testing and treatment rates among pediatric low-acuity emergency department (ED) visits and to compare testing and treatment patterns at general and pediatric-specific EDs. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study of triage level 4 or 5 pediatric visits from a complex survey of nonfederal US EDs from 2008 to 2017. We analyzed demographics, vital signs, disposition, testing, and treatment. We calculated proportions for each data element and used χ2 tests to determine differences between general and pediatric EDs. Results There were an estimated 306.2 million pediatric visits with 129.1 million acuity level 4 or 5 visits (57.2%; 95% confidence interval, 55.4%–58.9%), with diagnostic testing performed in 47.1% and medications administered in 69.6% of the visits. Most low-acuity visits (82.0%) were to general EDs. Tests performed more frequently in general EDs compared with pediatric EDs included radiographs (25.8% vs 15.7%, P
Source: Pediatric Emergency Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Original Research Article Source Type: research