Institution-level Emergency Department Care Processes and Flow Metrics from Hospital Information Systems: A Retrospective Descriptive Study
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Objective: Full-year, reproducible operational profiles derived from hospital information systems are rarely reported.This study aimed to describe a 2025 institution-level emergency department operational profile derived from a hospital information management system. Materials and Methods:We performed a retrospective, descriptive, single-center analysis of aggregated, de-identified outputs for all presentations to adult/general, pediatric, and obstetric/gynecology emergency units between January 1 and December 31, 2025.Indicators included visit volume and triage category; laboratory testing, imaging, and consultation activity; mean triage-to-first-physician waiting time by shift; observation unit length-of-stay categories; quarterly 24-hour revisits with the same diagnosis; and the 50 most frequently assigned International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision diagnosis codes, grouped by chapter.Results: There were 1,421,126 presentations; the triage distribution was 68.9% green, 28.3% yellow, 2.8% red, and 0.006% black.Resource use increased with acuity (laboratory testing: 9.7%, 21.5%, and 58.0%; any imaging: 13.7%, 39.0%, and 78.3% for green, yellow, and red triage, respectively).The mean triage-to-first-physician waiting time was 12.0 minutes overall and 5.5 minutes overnight (00:00-08:00).Observation stays totaled 268,847, of which 89.8% lasted 0-2 hours.The 24-hour revisit rate was 1.44%, increasing from 1.09% (January-March) to 1.62% (October-December).Conclusion: Aggregated hospital system outputs can support a reproducible operational dashboard describing demand, acuity-stratified care processes, flow, early returns, and diagnostic mix for monitoring and benchmarking.
Institution: Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi
Language: English
Subfield: Emergency Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7204171431