Description | In the emergency department, patients who are waiting for triage present with potentially time-sensitive and life-threatening conditions. The period of time between arrival and triage is rarely
discussed in the literature, and there are no established, evidence-based goals or standard
recommendations. This project developed and implemented a novel algorithm designed to
decrease door-to-triage (DTT) time to under 10 minutes by reallocating qualified nursing staff at
peak triage times. The Plan Do Study Act quality improvement model was used throughout the
project. Findings showed that staff responding to decompress triage based on algorithm triggers
led to a decreasing trend in DTT times and a decrease in the rate of patients leaving without
being seen by a provider over a 12-week implementation period. However, staff response was
affected by barriers such as staffing, holding admission patients, not meeting algorithm
conditions, and patient acuity. This project demonstrates the positive effects of decreasing and
tracking time-to-triage in the emergency department setting on patients, staff, and healthcare
systems. It also highlights barriers to timely triage and recommendations for further study. | en_US |