Table 1

Clinical and operational variables and indices collected in the UCC overcrowding study

Variables
 The total number of patients at UCCThe number of patients already transferred to other facilities in the past 2 hThe number of physicians on duty
 Total number of patients in the waiting roomThe number of patients with ESI 1 or 2 transferred to other facilities in the past 2 hThe number of nurses on duty
 The number of patients in the results pending areaThe number of patients waiting to be transferred to other facilitiesThe number of APPs on duty
 The number of patients with different assigned acuity levels (ESI 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)The number of patients waiting to be dischargedThe number of triage nurses on duty
 The number of patients with different assigned acuity levels in the waiting room (ESI 3, 4, 5)The longest wait time among patients in the waiting room expressed in hours
Index
 Total patient indexResults pending patient indexWaiting room patient index
 Nurse indexAPP indexPhysician index

  • The number of patients in the results pending area refers to the number of patients who had already been seen by a healthcare provider and were awaiting results of diagnostic testing. After the initial provider interview and physical examination, these patients are relocated from the examination room to the results pending area. The total patient index is the total number of patients at UCC divided by the number of UCC beds. The results pending patient index is the total number of patients residing in the results pending status (eg, patients already seen by healthcare providers at UCC and then transitioned to the results pending area) divided by the number of active patients (eg, active patients were the total number of patients in UCC less than those patients in the waiting room). The waiting room patient index was the number of patients in the waiting room divided by the number of UCC beds. The nurse index was the total number of patients at UCC divided by the number of nurses on duty. The APP index was the total number of patients at UCC divided by the number of APPs on duty. The physician index was the total number of patients at UCC divided by the number of physicians on duty.

  • APP, advanced practice provider; ESI, emergency severity index; UCC, Urgent Care Center.