Is there a so-called complaint bias?
An Australian study polled ED docs as to what their least favorite chief complaints were. Constipation, dizziness, and back pain topped the list.
Surprisingly, or not, these issues were associated with longer patient wait times.
“Favorite” complaints, like fractures, dislocations, and palpitations, tended to be seen much sooner.
Related posts:
- Ambitious: ERs are now advertising zero-wait
- ER doc to angry patient
- Chronic pain and drug pushing
- ER waits, how long is too long?
- Cursing can kill pain, I swear
- Long wait forces a cancer patient to buy the operation in land he fled
- Why primary care doctors shouldn’t be pain specialists
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{ 1 comment }
I think part of the reason that they wait is that they are in the Emergency Departmnet and not in the non Emergency Department. I love how patients who have the minimalist of complaints complain of the wait because those with acute MIs, those that need intubation and those that are dying go first. I guess that they dont believe in triage and just want us to go with the order that they came in. "Now serving number>"
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