Objectives: To determine the relationship between expense and waiting time with using Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) level, to evaluate the validity of the CTAS triage that was implemented in Emergency Department (ED)Materials and methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted between April 1st and July 6th, 2008. Patients who were triaged by emergency medicine residents at our institution using CTAS (level I-V) were included in the study. The correlations between CTAS levels with waiting times and hospital expense of the patient was calculated.
Results: Seven hundred and eighty nine patients were enrolled. The median expenses associated with each CTAS level were CTAS level I 2,576 Baht, CTAS level II 745 Baht, CTAS level III 155 Baht, CTAS level IV 124 Baht and CTAS level V 80 Baht. The median waiting times were CTAS level I 9 minutes, CTAS level II 12 minutes, CTAS level III 18 minutes, CTAS level IV 32 minutes and CTAS level V 42 minutes. For both variables, the differences between groups were statistically significant as determined by the Kruskal-Wallis test in both variables.
Conclusion: CTAS is significantly related to the cost of treatment and the waiting time in patients who visited the ED.