ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the current status of overcrowding in emergency departments of Tertiary level A hospitals in order to discover and analyze key factors limiting the performance efficiency of staff to raise a suggestion of improvements.Methods The data regarding the distribution of the total number of available beds and total number of patients registered were collected from 19 tertiary level A hospitals to construct a regression model correlating variables including number of patients waiting,time of appointment and number of patients delivered by ambulances.The national grading system of crowdedness for emergency departments was used to estimate the NEDOCS_ BJ value for Beijing Friendship Hospital.Results Statistical analyses of key factors hampering the work efficiency and correlation between ESI triage and clinical decisions revealed overcrowding in the emergency department in a pattern across hospitals and time periods.The extent of overcrowding can be alleviated by way of increase in performance efficiency.Conclusions The proposed improvements regarding the hierarchical medical system,the development of treatment plans,and working procedure were recommended.