Increasing use of the emergency department in a Swiss hospital: observational study based on measures of the severity of cases

摘要

In many countries the number of consultations in hospital emergency departments increased over the past decade. Possible explanations are the ageing of the population, increased levels of social deprivation, higher expectations from urban populations, or artefacts in admissions data." Implications for healthcare planners are far reaching; an understanding of how much of this trend is attributable to an increase in less severe cases is crucial. Studies of administrative data may aid such understanding.