Study of Patient Waiting Time in the Emergence Department: An Example of a Medical Center in New Taipei County, Taiwan

Abstract

Patients who receive care in an emergency department (ED) are usually unattended while waiting in queues. This study attempted to determine whether the application of queuing theory analysis might shorten the waiting times of patients admitted to emergency wards. After the literature survey phase, the flow model to evaluate the patient waiting time in the emergence department corresponding to the target hospital is presented, then the waiting time under some circumstance are simulated. By allocating the human and space resource dynamically, the waiting time can be reduced then patient satisfaction is improved.