ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT WAIT TIME AND MEDICATION PRESCRIPTION PATTERNS
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Authors
Hesse, Jacob J.
Subjects
emergency department
wait time
medication
prescription patterns
wait time
medication
prescription patterns
Advisors
Shen, Yu-Chu
Hartmann, Latika
Date of Issue
2020-03
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
In my thesis, I study whether a patient experiencing longer wait times in the emergency department (ED) is more or less likely to receive a medication, a non-prescription drug, or intravenous therapy (IV). Using survey data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), I analyze a sample of 98,451 ED visits from 2012 to 2016. My key variable is wait time, measured as a series of indicator variables for each quartile of the wait time distribution. My three outcome variables are: (1) indicator for receiving a medication, (2) indicator for receiving a non-prescription drug, and (3) indicator for whether an IV was given. I use four models for all three outcomes by including the following control variables in my analysis: (1) demographic information of the patients such as age, sex and race, (2) payment method, and (3) clinical characteristics such as pain scale and symptoms. I also include dummy variables for each respective year to capture any macro-trends. I find that patients in the 4th quartile of wait time have lower odds of receiving a medication, patients in the 3rd quartile have lower odds of receiving a non-prescription drug, and patients in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartile have lower odds of being given an IV. Many control variables are also correlated with my outcomes, such as age, sex, race, pain scale, and symptoms. My results have implications for optimal staffing of triage units in hospitals, advancing work flows efficiencies, and cutting waste.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Graduate School of Defense Management (GSDM)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
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Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.