Accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

David Thomas, I ANDERSON, M Kelaher

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

    Abstract

    Objectives: To examine the accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with other Australians. Methods: We examined 2004-05 data from the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care database from the Northern Territory and Western Australia, the only jurisdictions where Indigenous identification in the database was considered acceptable. Results: In the NT, Indigenous people were 1.7 times as likely to present to an emergency department as non-Indigenous people. Indigenous patients in the NT and WA do not appear to use EDs for "primary care" problems more than non-Indigenous patients. More NT Indigenous patients walked out before being seen or before their treatment was completed. However, Indigenous patients generally waited a similar time, and often slightly shorter, to be seen as similar non-Indigenous patients in WA and the NT. Conclusions: We recommend the regular monitoring of equity in the accessibility and quality of ED care for Indigenous people compared with other Australians. Indigenous identification in the database needs to improve so monitoring of ED performance can extend beyond WA and the NT.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)648-654
    Number of pages7
    JournalAustralian Health Review
    Volume32
    Issue number4
    Publication statusPublished - 2008

    Fingerprint

    Quality of Health Care
    Hospital Emergency Service
    Databases
    Northern Territory
    Western Australia
    Emergency Medical Services
    Primary Health Care

    Cite this

    Thomas, David ; ANDERSON, I ; Kelaher, M. / Accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In: Australian Health Review. 2008 ; Vol. 32, No. 4. pp. 648-654.
    @article{02896d0aff8a4dc3aea97d9c9fb3231c,
    title = "Accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people",
    abstract = "Objectives: To examine the accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with other Australians. Methods: We examined 2004-05 data from the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care database from the Northern Territory and Western Australia, the only jurisdictions where Indigenous identification in the database was considered acceptable. Results: In the NT, Indigenous people were 1.7 times as likely to present to an emergency department as non-Indigenous people. Indigenous patients in the NT and WA do not appear to use EDs for {"}primary care{"} problems more than non-Indigenous patients. More NT Indigenous patients walked out before being seen or before their treatment was completed. However, Indigenous patients generally waited a similar time, and often slightly shorter, to be seen as similar non-Indigenous patients in WA and the NT. Conclusions: We recommend the regular monitoring of equity in the accessibility and quality of ED care for Indigenous people compared with other Australians. Indigenous identification in the database needs to improve so monitoring of ED performance can extend beyond WA and the NT.",
    keywords = "Aborigine, article, Australia, emergency health service, health care delivery, health care quality, human, standard, statistics, utilization review, Emergency Service, Hospital, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Northern Territory, Oceanic Ancestry Group, Quality of Health Care, Statistics as Topic, Western Australia",
    author = "David Thomas and I ANDERSON and M Kelaher",
    year = "2008",
    language = "English",
    volume = "32",
    pages = "648--654",
    journal = "Australian Health Review",
    issn = "1743-8462",
    publisher = "BioMed Central",
    number = "4",

    }

    Thomas, D, ANDERSON, I & Kelaher, M 2008, 'Accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people', Australian Health Review, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 648-654.

    Accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. / Thomas, David; ANDERSON, I; Kelaher, M.

    In: Australian Health Review, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2008, p. 648-654.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

    TY - JOUR

    T1 - Accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

    AU - Thomas, David

    AU - ANDERSON, I

    AU - Kelaher, M

    PY - 2008

    Y1 - 2008

    N2 - Objectives: To examine the accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with other Australians. Methods: We examined 2004-05 data from the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care database from the Northern Territory and Western Australia, the only jurisdictions where Indigenous identification in the database was considered acceptable. Results: In the NT, Indigenous people were 1.7 times as likely to present to an emergency department as non-Indigenous people. Indigenous patients in the NT and WA do not appear to use EDs for "primary care" problems more than non-Indigenous patients. More NT Indigenous patients walked out before being seen or before their treatment was completed. However, Indigenous patients generally waited a similar time, and often slightly shorter, to be seen as similar non-Indigenous patients in WA and the NT. Conclusions: We recommend the regular monitoring of equity in the accessibility and quality of ED care for Indigenous people compared with other Australians. Indigenous identification in the database needs to improve so monitoring of ED performance can extend beyond WA and the NT.

    AB - Objectives: To examine the accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared with other Australians. Methods: We examined 2004-05 data from the National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care database from the Northern Territory and Western Australia, the only jurisdictions where Indigenous identification in the database was considered acceptable. Results: In the NT, Indigenous people were 1.7 times as likely to present to an emergency department as non-Indigenous people. Indigenous patients in the NT and WA do not appear to use EDs for "primary care" problems more than non-Indigenous patients. More NT Indigenous patients walked out before being seen or before their treatment was completed. However, Indigenous patients generally waited a similar time, and often slightly shorter, to be seen as similar non-Indigenous patients in WA and the NT. Conclusions: We recommend the regular monitoring of equity in the accessibility and quality of ED care for Indigenous people compared with other Australians. Indigenous identification in the database needs to improve so monitoring of ED performance can extend beyond WA and the NT.

    KW - Aborigine

    KW - article

    KW - Australia

    KW - emergency health service

    KW - health care delivery

    KW - health care quality

    KW - human

    KW - standard

    KW - statistics

    KW - utilization review

    KW - Emergency Service, Hospital

    KW - Health Services Accessibility

    KW - Humans

    KW - Northern Territory

    KW - Oceanic Ancestry Group

    KW - Quality of Health Care

    KW - Statistics as Topic

    KW - Western Australia

    UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=58149265434&partnerID=8YFLogxK

    M3 - Article

    VL - 32

    SP - 648

    EP - 654

    JO - Australian Health Review

    JF - Australian Health Review

    SN - 1743-8462

    IS - 4

    ER -

    Thomas D, ANDERSON I, Kelaher M. Accessibility and quality of care received in emergency departments by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Australian Health Review. 2008;32(4):648-654.

    Access to Document