Developing a conceptual model for studying various points of delays and underlying factors in the emergency healthcare system

Abstract

To review various literature related to emergency healthcarerelated delays and synthesize a conceptual framework for future research. Critical Interpretative Synthesis is employed to analyze and develop themes from selected articles. A total of 25 articles were selected for analysis after the careful selection process. Diseases including acute heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, infections, and gastrointestinal disorders were included. During analysis, three major phases of delays emerged: pre-hospital delay, inhospital delay, and ambulance off-load delay. Various factors, including socioeconomic factors, health system factors, organizational level factors, etc., are related to delays in emergency care settings. The model evolved from this literature analysis is similar to the 3 delays model. This review identified three significant delay segments related to emergency health care management.