The use of and satisfaction with the Emergency Severity Index.

Introduction: The Emergency Severity Index (ESI) is a 5-level emergency department triage algorithm designed to facilitate the sorting and streaming of patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the use of the ESI in emergency departments, including satisfaction with the ESI, usefulness of the ESI compared with other triage algorithms, and lessons learned from implementation.

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was sent to 935 people who requested the ESI training materials from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) at the U.