“Bounces”: An analysis of short-term return visits to a public hospital emergency department

doi:10.1016/S0196-0644(05)81698-1

Annals of Emergency Medicine

Volume 19, Issue 7, July 1990, Pages 752-757

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(05)81698-1 Get rights and content

From July through September 1987, our emergency department registered 17,214 patients of whom 569 (3%) returned within two days of initial registration. Cases were reviewed to identify factors associated with return visits. Patient-related factors were responsible for a majority of repeat visits (267 cases, 53%). Illness-related factors, particularly evolution of disease under close outpatient observation, prompted return in 68 cases (13%). An additional 60 patients (12%) returned with new problems unrelated to their initial presentation. Physician-related factors were the primary reason for return in 92 cases (18%). Problems with our public health-care system prompted return in 18 cases (4%). Eighty-seven returning patients (19%) required emergency hospitalization, including 28 discharged due to physician errors. Regular case review of short-term returns to the ED should be included in a comprehensive ED-based program of quality assurance.

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Cotolino's Primary Care Emergency Service in Cantabria, Spain.
1940 elderly patients over 65 years old were included. These patients returned to the Primary Care Emergency Service in 2016.
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It is believed that patients who return to the Emergency Department (ED) and require admission are thought to represent failures in diagnosis, treatment or discharge planning. Screening readmission rates or patients who return within 72 h have been used in ED Quality Assurance efforts. These metrics require significant effort in chart review and only rarely identify care deviations.
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: Presented at the University Association for Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1988.

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Original contribution“Bounces”: An analysis of short-term return visits to a public hospital emergency department

Ann Emerg Med

JACEP

Ann Emerg Med

J Emerg Med

Ann Emerg Med

JACEP

Ann Emerg Med

Risk Management in Emergency Medicine

Ambulatory medical care among adult black Americans: The hospital emergency room

J Natl Med Assoc

Non-emergency emergency room use in patients with and without primary care physicians

J Fam Pract

Accident and emergency department — Why people attend with minor injuries and aliments

Public Health

Original contribution
“Bounces”: An analysis of short-term return visits to a public hospital emergency department