The problems related to internal medicine consultations in the emergency department

Objectives: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department (ED) is a serious and growing problem during recent years and one of the main causes of it is dysfunctional consultation system. We aimed to determine the problems related to patients who were admitted to the ED and requested consultations from internal medicine (IM) physicians and to contribute to the gap in the literature regarding this isssue. Methods: In a period of one year, 3601 patients, who were admitted to the ED of a university hospital and were consulted by IM physicians were included in this prospective cross-sectional study. The epidemiological characteristics of patients, length of ED stay and consultation-related problems were investigated. Results: The most common problems related to consultations were delayed completion of the consultation procedures for 88 (2.4%) patients, and unnecessary consultation requests for 66 (1.8%) patients, and patient referrals with inappropriate indications from IM outpatient clinics to the ED for 53 (1.5%) patients. There were differences of opinion among IM physicians and emergency medicine specialists regarding the need for consultation for 36 (1%) patients. The most important difference was in the various infections seen in patients with histories of hematologic or solid organ malignancies (n = 9). Conclusions: According to these findings, good collaboration must be established among ED physicians and consultant physicians. Furthermore, physicians must avoid inappropriate referral patients from outpatient clinics to the ED. Additionally, unnecessary consultation requests from the ED must be avoided, and consultation requests must be addressed quickly.