Describing non-urgent pediatric Emergency Department utilization

Background: In the United States, as many as 50% of all children seen in the Emergency Department (ED) present with non-urgent conditions. There can be significant consequences when children are seen in the ED for conditions better suited for less acute settings, such as a primary care clinic. These consequences include increased costs for both families and the healthcare system, reductions in quality of care for patients in the ED, and potentially long-term health issues for the children obtaining non-urgent ED care. Researchers have discovered multiple contributors to non-urgent pediatric ED use. Of these contributors, parents perceiving their child’s condition to be urgent, is one of the most commonly cited, However, no researchers have identified the specific conditions in which parents perceive to be urgent. Filling this gap would provide a foundation for future research, as well as targeted interventions to help parents determine if, when, and where to obtain care for their children based on the child’s condition.