Emergency department of a university hospital: who is admitted and who is transferred?

Objectives: Our main aim was to describe the path of patients seen in our emergency department (ED) and either admitted or transferred and to compare the characteristics of patients hospitalized in our hospital with those of transferred patients. Our secondary aim was to compare the receipts linked to patient hospital stays.

Population And Methods: All patients seen in the ED of our hospital and ill enough to be either admitted or transferred were prospectively enrolled during 2 consecutive weeks.