The association of physical access with the interval between attending the hospital and receiving service in emergency department.

each hospital. Results of the checklist were scored using Likert’s five-points scale and Spearman and Pearson's correlation coefficient were applied to determine the relationship between physical access and waiting time. Results: The correlation between the waiting time beginning from the very moment of stepping into the ward until first examination and physical condition at the triage wards in private (P 0.05) was not significant. The waiting interval, beginning from the very moment of stepping into the ward until first examination and access to physical space of ED, was significant for private hospitals (P 0.05). Conclusions: According to the results, there was a direct correlation between access to physical space in ED and waiting time. In addition, improving the physical access did not necessarily result in shorter waiting time. Therefore, to improve triage process, improvement of waiting time indices, and modifying forms of work process in ED are recommended.