Project Goal
Patients report that one of the most significant sources of stress when visiting the emergency room is waiting to be seen by a doctor. Patients of hospitals in high traffic areas can experience extremely long wait times regardless of the severity of their condition. The goal of this project was to use human factors and ergonomic principles learned in class to reduce emergency room wait times to improve patient experience.
Data Collection
-
The initial plan for the collection of data (pre covid-19) was to physically monitor the emergency room of Rush University Medical hospital. However, for safety reasons our group transitioned to online sources.
-
E.G ER Wait Time in Chicago Hospitals. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2020, from
https://www.hospitalstats.org/ER-Wait-Time/Chicago-IL-Metro.htm
-
Through our sources we were able to ascertain that the average wait time for visits to the ER were approximately 2 hours. (3 hours for critical on average, 4 for non critical)
-
Roughly 4% of patients leave without treatment.
-
Additionally our sources determined 5 levels cases. (Immediate, emergent, urgent,semi-urgent, nonurgent.