A Health Records Review of Outpatient Referrals from the Emergency Department

Table 1

Patient characteristics and summative results (N = 963).

Demographics
Mean patient age (years)	51
Female sex (%)	49.5
Outpatient clinic	Patients referred (n)
Cardiology	116
Dermatology	22
Gastroenterology	41
General surgery	34
Gynecology	19
Infectious diseases	40
Internal medicine	23
Neurology	68
Ophthalmology	151
Orthopedic surgery	158
Otorhinolaryngology	36
Plastic surgery	74
Stroke/TIA clinic	41
Thrombosis	52
Urology	88
Summative results
Patients lost to follow-up	160 (16.6%)
Overall median days to consultation	9 (IQR 2–27)
Return ED visits for a related complaint	92 (9.6%)

IQR, interquartile range.