Scoping Review of Triage Modifications to Emergency Medical Care in Hospitals Post-COVID-19

Post-COVID-19, significant triage modifications were made in emergency hospital medical care. Previous scoping reviews investigated triage changes during COVID-19. This scoping review uniquely considers post-pandemic effects. It searches the parameters “COVID-19, triage, hospital, emergency medical care” in four primary databases, one register, and a supplementary database to determine the range of emergency hospital triage changes. Following PRISMA guidelines, studies included are post-2023 publications, those in English, and research studies. Excluded were duplicates, reviews, books, and reports lacking research studies or including irrelevant information on COVID-19, triage, hospital, or emergency medical care. Identified are 1071 records: OVID (n = 20), PubMed (n = 2), Scopus (n = 46), Web of Science (n = 20), Cochrane COVID-19 Register (n = 18), and Google Scholar (n = 965). Six studies are included from the Web of Science (n = 1) and Google Scholar (n = 5). One study includes reports from six different countries; thus, there are 11 reports. The modification of triage was concerning four ways, with each country focusing on a specific triage change. Adaptive changes were proactive rather than reactive. Triage-related future research suggestions include the four triage aspects, international comparisons, and longitudinal change. The recommendation is for research assessing Google Scholar.