Why do patients choose to attend a private emergency department?

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Understanding the reasons patients decide to attend a particular acute care service, and their expectations of that service, is important in providing optimal patient care. The present study aimed to determine factors influencing patient decisions to attend a private Australian ED, an issue that has not been previously addressed in the literature. METHODS: Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with ED patients, purposively sampled to broadly reflect the departmental caseload and casemix. The two primary questions asked were: 'Why did you choose to come to this emergency department?' and 'What are your general expectations of this emergency department visit?'. Interviews were aud..