In the traditional workflow at an emergency or urgent care department, patients are assessed and triaged into either discharge after treatment or admission for further management.
But many patients do not fall into either category. For example, patients with abdominal pain often need to be observed for maybe half a day to be sure they do not have acute abdominal conditions like acute appendicitis. And patients with gastroenteritis often require 24 hours of intravenous hydration.
The new SGH Emergency Department observation and acute medical wards can hence fill the gap for such patients.
The hospital inpatient wards can then be reserved for patients with more serious illnesses, such as intestinal obstruction or gastrointestinal bleeding, which require several days of hospitalisation and operation.
Many insurers also require their clients to be admitted from emergency or urgent care departments for claiming their medical expenses from their Integrated Shield Plans.
Patients discharged from the emergency or urgent care departments after treatment would not be able to claim their medical expenses from their insurers.
SGH’s new system, in which patients are admitted to the observation or acute medical wards, can help patients make insurance claims.
Other hospitals, public or private, should learn from SGH and do likewise.
Desmond Wai (Dr)
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