A Survey of Timing Indicators of Emergency Department at Firoozgar Hospital: 2012

The speed of service delivery in health care systems، particularly in emergency centers، is crucial to reduce mortality and disability rates. One of the indicators used to evaluate the emergency departments is patients’ waiting time for receiving diagnostic/treatment services. This study aimed to measure the timing indicators in the emergency department at Firoozgar hospital. This cross-sectional، observational study was conducted during April to September 2012. The study population consisted of all patients admitted to the emergency department at Firoozgar hospital. Workflow forms were used to collect data from five groups. Data were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. According to the findings، in emergency department، the average access times to first clinical visit، first nursing services، receiving lab tests، taking radiology images، and waiting time were found to be 3، 3، 170،125، and 305 minutes، respectively. The timing indicators of emergency at Firoozgar hospital were close to standard which could be due to the presence of emergency resident physicians and the disposition committee.