The Impact of Full-Time Attending Physician in the Pediatric Emergency Department

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to indirectly evaluate the impact of full-time pediatric emergency physician on the quality of medical services. Methods This study was a retrospective study that was performed by using the medical records of new patients aged less than 16 years old, residing in Cheonan and Asan, who visited the pediatric emergency department (PED) of Soonchyunhayng University Cheonan Hospital from December 1, 2011 to December 31, 2016. The correlations between the outpatient revisit following the emergency department visit and socio-demographic characteristics, number of physicians, reasons for the visit, severity based on the Korean Triage and Acuity System, length of stay, and whether or not tests were conducted were analyzed. Results Total of 30,728 patients were included. The significant factors affecting the outpatient revisit were the patient’s age (P=0.00; odds ratio [OR], 1.004), number of physicians (P=0.03; OR, 1.066), and length of stay (P=0.00; OR, 1.004). When the number of physicians was appropriate, the length of stay was reduced (P=0.00; OR, 0.999), and the rate of test (P=0.00; OR, 0.835) were reduced. Conclusion It is believed that having an appropriate number of physicians will indirectly increase the patient’s satisfaction, and be helpful in improving the quality of the medical services in PED.