Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul 26:8:23743735211033752.
doi: 10.1177/23743735211033752. eCollection 2021.

Emergency Department Patient Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Vytas P Karalius  1 , Saabir B Kaskar  1 , Daniel A Levine  1 , Tiffani A Darling  2 , Timothy M Loftus  1 , Danielle M McCarthy  1   3
Affiliations

Emergency Department Patient Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Vytas P Karalius et al. J Patient Exp. .

Abstract

Emergency department (ED) utilization changed notably during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States. The purpose of the study was to gain a more thorough understanding of ED patient experience during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used the consensual qualitative approach to analyze open-ended responses from post-ED patient experience surveys from February through July 2020. Comments were included in the analysis if they pertained to care during the pandemic (eg, mentioned "the virus," "masks," "PPE"). A total of 242 COVID-specific comments from 192 unique patients were analyzed (median age 49 years; 69% female). Six themes were identified: visually observed changes, experiences of process changes, expressions of understanding or appreciation, sense of security, COVID-19 disease-specific comments, and "classic" satisfaction comments that align with previous literature on patient experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged health care systems across the world in unique and unprecedented ways. This study identified six themes that better elucidate ED patient experience during an unprecedented public health crisis.

Keywords: COVID; coronavirus; emergency department; experience; patient; satisfaction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Sonis JD, Aaronson EL, Lee RY, Philpotts LL, White BA. Emergency department patient experience: a systematic review of the literature. J Patient Exp. 2018;5:101–6. doi:10.1177/2374373517731359 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Welch SJ. Twenty years of patient satisfaction research applied to the emergency department: a qualitative review. Am J Med Qual. 2010;25:64–72. doi:10.1177/1062860609352536 - PubMed
    1. Richter JP, Muhlestein DB. Patient experience and hospital profitability: is there a link? Health Care Manage Rev. 2017;42:247–57. doi:10.1097/hmr.0000000000000105 - PubMed
    1. Doyle C, Lennox L, Bell D. A systematic review of evidence on the links between patient experience and clinical safety and effectiveness. BMJ Open. 2013;3. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001570 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Boulding W, Glickman SW, Manary MP, Schulman KA, Staelin R. Relationship between patient satisfaction with inpatient care and hospital readmission within 30 days. Am J Manag Care. 2011;17:41–48. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources