Patients' self-reported reasons for choosing to go to the emergency department.

Number of respondents that report each response option: (1) the emergency department was the only choice available at the time, (2) the emergency department was the most convenient place to go, (3) thought the emergency department was the best place for my medical problem, (4) told to go to the emergency department rather than somewhere else.

Total number of respondents during the reporting period.

General exclusion criteria for the HQCA EDPEC Survey include: Children aged 0 to 15 for the 14 large urban and regional adult emergency department sites. Patients older than 12 for the two Children's Hospital emergency department sites. Patients who left the emergency department before being seen or treated. Patients who died in the context of their emergency department or inpatient stay. Patients without contact information (phone number). Privacy-sensitive cases (e.g., domestic abuse, attempted suicide, etc.). Patients in need of resuscitation who presented to the emergency department (CTAS 1) are excluded, since it is assumed they do not have the choice to go somewhere other than the emergency department. Patients who reported 'Other' are excluded from the report, since the number of respondents who answered in this fashion are too small to ensure the reliability and validity of the data, as well as to ensure the confidentiality of respondents.

None

By response option, hospital and hospital type (large urban trauma, large urban, medium urban, children's).

HQCA Emergency Department Patient Experience of Care (EDPEC) Survey

Interactive infographic: focus.hqca.ca/charts/patient-reason-for-emergency-department-visit/

focus.hqca.ca/healthcare-areas/emergencydepartments/

focus.hqca.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Patient-Experience-reason-for-ED-visit.pdf