The effect of having a physician in the triage area on the rate of patients leaving without being seen: A quality improvement initiative at King Fahad Specialist hospital

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

- Demographics of the patient’s included in the study (N=7,826).

Characteristic	Overall (N=7,826)	Months			P-values^{^*}
		August (n=2,854)	September (n=2,321)	October (n=2,651)
Age, median (IQR)	45 (30-59)	45 (30-60)	44 (30-59)	45 (29-59)	0.2
Gender
Female	4,260 (54.0)	1,505 (53.0)	1,298 (56.0)	1,457 (55.0)	0.058
Male	3,566 (46.0)	1,349 (47.0)	1,023 (44.0)	1,194 (45.0)	0.058
Nationality
Non-Saudi	340 (4.3)	107 (3.7)	110 (4.7)	123 (4.6)	0.15
Saudi	7,486 (96.0)	2,747 (96.0)	2,211 (95.0)	2,528 (95.0)	0.15
CTAS
Resuscitation	10 (0.1)	1 (<0.1)	3 (0.1)	6 (0.2)
Emergent	85 (1.1)	35 (1.2)	21 (0.9)	29 (1.1)
Urgent	4,009 (51.0)	1,435 (50.0)	1,132 (49.0)	1,442 (54.0)
Less urgent	3,277 (42.0)	1,171 (41.0)	1,085 (47.0)	1,021 (39.0)
Non-urgent	445 (5.7)	212 (7.4)	80 (3.4)	153 (5.8)
Patient’s type
Active	6,928 (89.0)	2,507 (88.0)	2,034 (88.0)	2,387 (90.0)	0.001
Dependent	131 (1.7)	39 (1.4)	51 (2.2)	41 (1.5)
Employee	285 (3.6)	109 (3.8)	82 (3.5)	94 (3.5)
New patient	404 (5.2)	171 (6.0)	135 (5.8)	98 (3.7)
Non-active	77 (1.0)	27 (0.9)	19 (0.8)	31 (1.2)

Values are presented as numbers and precentages (%) or median interquartile range (IQR).

CTAS: Canadian triage and acuity scale

Table 2

- Objectives of the study (N=7,826).

Characteristic	Overall (N=7,826)	Months			P-values^{^*}
		August (n=2,854)	September (n=2,321)	October (n=2,651)
Left without being seen, n(%)	140 (1.8)	64 (2.2)	53 (2.3)	23 (0.9)	<0.001
Time to physician (mins)	30 (16-52)	31 (16-59)	31 (18-53)	27 (15-46)	<0.001
Time to disposition decision (mins)	133 (59-230)	135 (60-238)	130 (62-223)	132 (55-228)	0.5
Length of stay (mins)	140 (60-256)	142 (62-263)	137 (64-245)	139 (57-260)	0.9