Emergency medicine transformation to improve hospital admissions and patient outcomes: Emergency ambulatory care model in Hong Kong

Abstract Introduction The Prince of Wales Hospital's Emergency Ambulatory Care (EAC) service, initiated in August 2021, exemplifies an innovative approach to the emergency department (ED) to address the increasing demands on healthcare systems. This study evaluates the impact of EAC service on hospital admissions, focusing on patients with ambulatory care‐sensitive conditions over the initial 5 months. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the EAC service from 1 August 2021 to 31 December 2021. The service integrated the ED's workflow and operated 171 eight‐hour sessions. Descriptive statistics and the Spearman correlation test were used in the analysis. Results A total of 408 patients were recruited and the service achieved a high discharge rate of 89.5%, contributing to a 7.5% reduction in hospital admissions for medical conditions. These results were supported by a significant negative correlation (r = −1.000, p