Impact of Emergency Department Tele-intake on Left Without Being Seen and Throughput Metrics.

Objectives: More than 2 million patients present to a U.S. emergency department (ED) annually and leave without being seen (LWBS) due to delays in initiating care.

Pain scores show no monotonic upward or downward trend over time.

Background: Self-reported pain scales are commonly used in emergency departments (EDs). The 11-point (0-10) numerical rating scale is a commonly used scale for adults visiting EDs in the United States. Despite their widespread use, little is known about whether distribution of pain scores has remained consistent over time.