Development, Reliability, and Validity of the Treatment Decision-Making Needs Assessment Scale for Chinese Cancer Patients.

Specialist response times in the emergency department vary dramatically, and until now, we had no reliable way to measure them. We utilized a tracking tool directly into our electronic health record and measured over 34,000 consults across 26 specialties over 12 months. Response times varied widely depending on the specialty, from rapid responses for critical care teams to prolonged waits for others. Critically, our tool captured consultant response times more accurately than older surrogate methods, which substantially overstated delays. You cannot fix what you cannot measure, and now we can measure it. Emergency department (ED) consultations are essential for patient care, influencing diagnostic decisions, treatment plans, and overall length of stay (LOS). Delays in consultant response time and recommendations can contribute to ED overcrowding, prolonged patient wait times, and inefficiencies in care delivery. Although delays in consultations are widely recognized and anecdotal reports suggest prolonged response times, systematic tracking and analysis of consultation recommendation times remain limited.