Identification of low-acuity attendances in routine clinical information documented in German Emergency Departments.

Introduction: It has not yet been possible to ascertain the exact proportion, characterization or impact of low-acuity emergency department (ED) attendances on the German Health Care System since valid and robust definitions to be applied in German ED routine data are missing.

Methods: Internationally used methods and parameters to identify low-acuity ED attendances were identified, analyzed and then applied to routine ED data from two EDs of the tertiary care hospitals Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte (CCM) and Campus Virchow (CVK).

Results: Based on the three routinely available parameters `disposition´, `transport to the ED´ and `triage´ 33.