The emergency department offers stewardship to patients by ensuring that they offer them quality emergency care through prudent management of scarce health care resources. Emergency physicians have an obligation to effectively use the available resources for the long-term benefit of the patient; thus emergency department has a duty to avoid wasteful use of health care resources. The emergency department has a duty to provide affordable, high-quality health care to patients who are in need. Emergency physicians set the dominoes of carrying out tests and treatment on patients in need, which can be of immense help in reducing hospital admissions or the length of stay when admitted in hospitals.
According to Ramsden & Friendship, the emergency department has a duty to plan for disaster management, whether natural or manmade, coordination and direct emergency medical services, triage supervision, and referral and admission decision of patients. The emergency department has an obligation to preserve the societal trust in them, and therefore, patient welfare needs honor through equitable and wise resource allocation in emergency health service provision. The emergency department has an obligation to improve the triage process, which helps in better patient and staff expectation management. The emergency department offers an improved triage process that results in an enhanced waiting environment, timely triage assessment, enhanced patient safety, and elimination of over-tasking and complaints among staff, ensuring improved communication among emergency service staff for smooth health care provision.
Better communication and data storage by the emergency department ensures improved and accurate service provision and data collection. The improved diagnostic process through appropriate, timely testing of patients results in faster recovery, reduced hospital stay, informed treatment, and reduced treatment cost. The emergency department, through its coordinated approach to health care, ensures improved client safety and satisfaction. The department also offers training and education both to patients and caregivers on appropriate discharge.