Impact of urgent care centers on emergency department visits in Al Madina Al Munawara: A pre-post study.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of UCCs on reducing non-urgent Emergency Department (ED) visits and improving patient flow, focusing on metrics such as door-to-doctor time, doctor-to-decision time, and overall patient disposition.

Methods: This observational cohort pre-post study analyzed data from 198,050 ED visits to King Fahad Hospital, Al Madina Al Munawara between June 2021 and May 2023 and compared visit patterns before and after UCC implementation.

Results: Post-UCC implementation, the average door-to-doctor time decreased but was not statistically significant. Significant reductions were observed in doctor-to-decision and door-to-disposition times for CTAS 3 patients. However, overall patient flow improvements were not fully realized, highlighting the need for enhanced public awareness and integration of UCCs with EDs.

Conclusion: The study shows that while urgent care centers in Al Madina Al Munawara have improved efficiency for some patient categories, they don't fully achieve expected reductions in waiting times and patient flow. Seasonal variations, limited patient awareness, and data constraints affect outcomes.