Understanding emergency department pressures in Capital Health

Factors Associated With Peak Periods of Utilization In 1997/98, the winter peak of patient visits in December was characterized an increase in visits for those less than 10 years of age and for a segment of the elderly and by visits for Health Status Requiring Contact with Health Services and Diseases of the Respiratory System compared with March. [...] In 1998/99, the summer peak in August was characterized by an increase in visits for those between 5 and 70 years of age and for visits for Injuries and Poisoning and for Diseases of the Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue compared to March. [...] The numbers of visits by holiday were compared with the average * A list of the holidays included in these analyses can be found in Appendix 1 The Alberta Centre for Health Services Utilization Research Page 6 Understanding Emergency Department Pressures in Capital Health number of visits for non-holiday Saturdays and Sundays. [...] To identify factors associated with peak periods of utilization, we analyzed the age and sex characteristics and the primary (most responsible) diagnosis of patients coming to the emergency departments during the highest periods of utilization as well as the lowest periods of utilization. [...] Tables 2A and 2B show the number of visits and the difference between the actual number of visits for the month and the mean number of visits per month for that fiscal year.