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  • Title: Pediatric left-without-being-seen patients: what happens to them after they leave the pediatric emergency department?
    Author: Tothy AS, Staley S, Dean EK, Johnson S, Johnson D.
    Journal: Pediatr Emerg Care; 2013 Nov; 29(11):1194-6. PubMed ID: 24168881.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate what happens to the children who leave without being seen (LWBS) in an urban Pediatric Emergency Department (PED). METHODS: Patient advocates contacted families whose children LWBS in the PED via phone call and utilized a standardized questionnaire to interview them regarding medical care sought after leaving the PED. Questions asked included the following: Was further medical care sought by the family for the child? If so, where was the care obtained? Did the patient no longer require care? The family was also asked if the advocate could help make an appointment for medical care for the child. RESULTS: From April 2009 to September 2011, 3874 LWBS patients from the PED at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital were called by patient advocates. Sixty-five percent (n = 2521) of these children's families were reached by phone. More than 50% of patients contacted sought medical care elsewhere, planned to seek care, or had scheduled an appointment for follow-up medical care. When contacted, 21% of the families felt that no further medical appointment/care was needed, and 23% refused assistance. CONCLUSIONS: Left-without-being-seen rates continued to be an ongoing issue for physicians in the PED. More than half of the contacted patients who LWBS were cared for elsewhere either on the day of the visit or later. This information obtained provides an initial look into understanding what happens to an urban PED patient population that leaves before receiving care in the PED.
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