Clocking time on emergency patients saves lives

Discharging or admitting emergency patients within four hours of arriving to the hospital has saved 80 lives, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Overcrowded emergency departments in Western Australia introduced the method in 2009, based on the U.K. model, with aims to discharge or admit 85 percent of hospital patients within the timeframe, reported ABC Sydney.

Australian Medical Association President Steve Hambleton said he cautiously welcomed the report's findings. "Certainly the numbers are startlingly significant, but we are cautious about the potential downside to the same issues," he said about concerns about a time-target rule. Article