OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study is to demonstrate a novel method of mapping ED activity to analyse patterns presentations, occupancy and performance trends.
METHODS: This was a retrospective, descriptive analysis of de-identified and linked ED presentations across NSW, Australia, over five calendar years, 2010-2014. It was undertaken as part of the Demand for Emergency Services Trend in Years 2010-2014 (DESTINY) study. The DESTINY project analysed 10.8 million presentations during 2010-2014. Hourly Emergency Activity Tracking (HEAT) maps were generated to visually represent and analyse the number of emergency arrivals to ED occupancy and proportion of patients leaving the ED within 4 h per hour of day across consecutive months of the year.
RESULTS: HEAT maps provided a means of visually representing ED activity to demonstrate hour-to-hour trends in presentations, occupancy and performance between 2010 and 2014. This analysis has shown that the most marked increase in presentations per hour has occurred during the 10.00-14.00 hour period, associated with an improvement in ED performance during the same period.
CONCLUSION: HEAT maps may be used to facilitate further analyses of ED demand, patterns of patient presentations and patient flow and future health system redesign.
BT - Emerg Med Australas C1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28009102?dopt=Abstract DO - 10.1111/1742-6723.12712 IS - 2 J2 - Emerg Med Australas LA - eng N2 -OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study is to demonstrate a novel method of mapping ED activity to analyse patterns presentations, occupancy and performance trends.
METHODS: This was a retrospective, descriptive analysis of de-identified and linked ED presentations across NSW, Australia, over five calendar years, 2010-2014. It was undertaken as part of the Demand for Emergency Services Trend in Years 2010-2014 (DESTINY) study. The DESTINY project analysed 10.8 million presentations during 2010-2014. Hourly Emergency Activity Tracking (HEAT) maps were generated to visually represent and analyse the number of emergency arrivals to ED occupancy and proportion of patients leaving the ED within 4 h per hour of day across consecutive months of the year.
RESULTS: HEAT maps provided a means of visually representing ED activity to demonstrate hour-to-hour trends in presentations, occupancy and performance between 2010 and 2014. This analysis has shown that the most marked increase in presentations per hour has occurred during the 10.00-14.00 hour period, associated with an improvement in ED performance during the same period.
CONCLUSION: HEAT maps may be used to facilitate further analyses of ED demand, patterns of patient presentations and patient flow and future health system redesign.
PY - 2017 SP - 173 EP - 177 T2 - Emerg Med Australas TI - Feeling the HEAT: Using Hourly Emergency Activity Tracking to demonstrate a novel method of describing activity and patient flow. VL - 29 SN - 1742-6723 ER -