Indicators for Emergency and Urgent Medical Services

Conceptual Framework

This section presents a general definition of indicators used to measure the quality of service in emergency and urgent units of a health system. Healthcare indicators are selected according to objectives defined for daily routines. Essentially, the objective is the expected resolution of a problem that managers face in their daily routine. In addition, every indicator must have a target, i.e., a value that must be reached in a given period of time. The difference between the current value of the indicator and the target is called a gap. Gap detection should lead managers to discover the cause and take corrective actions. In other words, indicators must lead managers to act towards achieving expected results.

It is also worth mentioning the issue of overcrowding of patients in emergency departments. Overcrowding is considered as a concern, since it significantly affects patients and healthcare professionals. The tension caused by patient overcrowding generates a deficit in the quality of emergency healthcare. It has been associated with reduced access to emergency medical services, delays in assisting cardiac patients, increased patient mortality, prolonged patient transport time, improper pain management, violence from irritated patients against staff, increased costs of patient care and decreased physician job satisfaction (Hoot et al., 2007).