Evaluation of Difference in Emergency Care Quality by Years of Physician Experience at the Emergency Department

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effect of emergency medicine training credentials and years of medical experience on various clinical parameters in emergency medicine practice.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Juntendo University Nerima Hospital between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020. All patients who were transported by ambulance, were examined by emergency physicians, and underwent computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the emergency department were included. For these cases, data on the attending physician's qualification status and experience (specialist, nonspecialist with 1-2 years of experience, or nonspecialist with 3-4 years of experience), clinical parameters, and imaging were collected. The primary outcome was the patient's total length of stay (LOS) in the emergency department.

Results A total of 3,784 patients were included in the study. Patients attended by nonspecialists with 1-2 years of experience had a significantly longer time from arrival to assessment and LOS, especially in mild and severe cases and cases requiring head and abdominal CT imaging.

Conclusion Our findings suggest that for physicians with minimal work experience, mentorship and effective training using triage flow and medical examination protocols may help to reduce LOS in the emergency department.