Study Explores How Telemedicine May Ease ER Overcrowding
Overcrowding in emergency rooms is a costly and concerning global problem, compromising patient care quality and experience. In a new study, a researcher from The University of Texas at Dallas investigated whether telemedicine could enhance ER care delivery. “This longstanding problem is mainly driven by the imbalance between increasing patient flow and the shortage of emergency room capacity,” said Dr. Shujing Sun, assistant professor of information systems in the Naveen Jindal School of Management and lead author of the study.
“While the ER is supposed to be a safety net of the health care system, the overcrowding problem has strained this safety net and posits various threats,” Sun said. “For example, long waiting times and treatment delays cause adverse patient outcomes, such as high readmission and mortality rates. They also increase financial costs, reduce patients’ satisfaction, and impair physician efficiency.”