Seventy-two-hour Returns May Not be a Good Indicator of Safety in the Emergency Department: A National Study
Academic Emergency Medicine, 04/22/2011
Cuong J et al. – Patients who return to the emergency department (ED) within 72 hours do not use more resources, are not more severely ill, and do not have a higher hospital admission rate than those who had not been previously seen. These findings do not support the use of 72–hour returns as a quality or safety indicator. A more refined variation such as 72–hour returns resulting in admission may have more value.






