An Acute Medical Unit in a Korean Tertiary Care Hospital Reduces the Length of Stay and Waiting Time in the Emergency Department.
10.3346/jkms.2017.32.12.1917
- Author:
Jung Hun OHN
1
;
Nak Hyun KIM
;
Eun Sun KIM
;
Seon Ha BAEK
;
Yejee LIM
;
Jaehyung HUR
;
Yun Jong LEE
;
Eu Suk KIM
;
Hak Chul JANG
Author Information
1. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Hospital Medicine;
Length of Stay;
Hospitalists;
Emergency Service, Hospital
- MeSH:
Emergencies*;
Emergency Service, Hospital*;
Hospital Medicine;
Hospitalists;
Humans;
Korea;
Length of Stay*;
Mortality;
Tertiary Healthcare*
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2017;32(12):1917-1920
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
A hospitalist-run acute medical unit (AMU) opened at a tertiary care hospital on August 2015 for the first time in Korea. Patients visiting the emergency department (ED) with acute medical problems are admitted to the AMU. They stay in that unit for less than 72 hours and are discharged or transferred to specialty wards if longer treatment is necessary. We reviewed 19,450 medical admissions through the ED from January 2014 to September 2016. The median length of stay (LOS) significantly decreased from 10.0 days (interquartile range [IQR], 5.5–16.7) to 9.1 days (IQR, 5.1–15.0) (P < 0.001) after the establishment of the AMU. The median waiting time in the ED significantly shortened by 40% (P < 0.001). Future studies on the impact of AMU on in-patient morbidity, mortality, re-admission rate, and patient or staff satisfaction are necessary.
