Farzaneh Golaghaie, Hossein Sarmadian, Mohammad Rafiie, Nazi Nejat,
Volume 11, Issue 2 (6-2008)
Abstract
Introduction: Delivery of immediate medical interventions appropriate to the severity of clinical status of patients is a main public expectation of emergency departments. Waiting time and length of stay are the key measures to asses the quality of care in emergency departments. This study is done to investigate the waiting time and length of stay of attendants to emergency department of Vali-e-Asr Hospital, Arak-Iran. Materials and Methods: This analytical cross-sectional research was conducted in a general emergency department of a teaching hospital in Arak to asses the waiting time and length of stay of patients. In the first stage of the study all attendants during a 6 weeks period were classified regarding to the severity of their clinical status by an educated nurse and a general practitioner using a three category scale (guideline) presented by ministry of Health and Medical Education (2001). Also waiting time for a general practitioner visit was measured and documented by the resident general practitioner. In the second stage, a sample of 100 documents of patients in group 1 and 2 admitted for specialist visit were assessed for the waiting time and length of stay in emergency department. Mean of waiting time according to patients clinical status and the specialty of the first physician were analyzed by t-test and ANOVA (p =0.05). Results: During a 6 weeks period, of 1963 patients, 179(9.1%) were categorized as emergent (category 1), 391(19.9%) urgent (category 2) and 1393 (71%) non urgent. The mean waiting time for general practitioner visit was 5 minutes. The median and mean of waiting time for specialist visit in group 1 and 2 of patients were 225 and 262±156, 220 and 227±153 minutes, respectively. The median and mean of length of stay was 1 and 2 days, respectively. No differences were found between waiting time of various specialties visit in patients of categories 1 and 2. Conclusion: Regarding the long waiting time for specialist visit, using triage in emergency departments is necessary. This needs planning and organization for the presence of specialists in the hospital, over the time. Also regarding the large number of nonurgent patients, 24 hours presence of a general practitioner is necessary.
Latif Moini, Ali Fani, Babak Peyroshabany, Mahmodreza Baghinia,
Volume 14, Issue 4 (9-2011)
Abstract
Background: APACHE IV scoring system is one of the most useful scoring systems for evaluating the quality of health care services in ICU. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of health care services in ICU wards of Valiasr and Amiralmomenin Hospitals of Arak. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 patients admitted to ICU wards in Valiasr and Amiralmomenin Hospitals of Arak. First, the predicted mortality and length of stay (LOS) in ICU were calculated by APACHE IV scoring system. Then the real mortality and the real length of stay in ICU were recorded. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 11.5 and t-test. Results: Real mortality in men and women were 57.2% and 61.9%, respectively. The real length of stay in men and women were 11.58 and 11.62 days, respectively. Predicted mortality calculated by APACHE IV in men was 23.72% while it was 24.1% in women. Predicted LOS by APACHE IV in men was 15.02 days while it was 16.64 days in women. There was a significant difference between real mortality and predicted mortality (P = 0.001). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that the quality of health care services in ICU wards of Valiasr and Amiralmomenin Hospitals of Arak are far from international standards.
