Philippine E-Journals

Evaluation of the PCMC fever lane according to case distribution, diagnostic, and management patterns, turn around times, and outcomes

Maria Celine Alexis M. Isidro | Liezl Malabanan | Angelo Martin B Catacutan

Discipline: medicine by specialism

 

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) Fever Lane in terms of case distribution, diagnostic and management patterns, patient disposition, and turnaround times (TATs). It further compared the average total TAT of Fever Lane patients with the Citizen's Charter standards and assessed differences between old and new patient categories. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective descriptive and analytical design was utilized, reviewing charts and turn-around time records of patients seen from August 18 to September 15, 2025. Demographic and clinical profiles were summarized using descriptive statistics. Mean and standard deviation were computed for process times. The one-sample t-test was used to compare Fever Lane TATs with Citizen's Charter standards, and the two-sample t-test compared old versus new patients. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 329 patients were analyzed, with 197 (59.9%) old and 132 (40.1%) new patients. The mean total TAT was 88.3 ± 12.5 minutes for old patients and 104.8 ± 14.1 minutes for new patients, both significantly shorter than the Citizen's Charter standard of 188 minutes (p < 0.001). The difference between old and new patients was also significant (t = 2.47, p = 0.016). Most patients (94.2%) were discharged home, while 5.8% were referred to the emergency room. CONCLUSION: The PCMC Fever Lane achieved markedly shorter turnaround times than the Citizen's Charter benchmarks, demonstrating effi- cient patient flow and timely service delivery. However, further improvement is recommended by integrating an in-unit cashier and synchronizing triage and data encoding processes with the general OPD system.