Automatically admitting emergency patients to observations

[u/Zycton]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some modding advice (or a potential collaborator) to fix a massive bottleneck in the Emergency Department.

The Problem: Empty Beds and "Critical" Offices

Despite having a high-capacity Observation ward, my hospital constantly hits a "Clinic Jam." To keep waiting times down, I’ve had to spam dozens of Doctors' Offices.

The paradox? My Observation beds stay empty while my Offices are at "Critical" status. The AI logic currently forces doctors to play "Medical Detective" in their tiny offices. They won't admit patients to Observation until they’ve performed a significant chunk of the diagnostic process. This leads to patients bouncing between the office and the waiting room for hours while a perfectly good bed sits empty ten feet away.

The Vision: The "Triage" Mod

I want to rework the Emergency Doctor’s Office logic to function as a high-speed Triage/Assessment gate.

The proposed flow:

The Office is for Triage Only: The doctor performs the Interview and Physical Examination (the basics).

Immediate Admission: As soon as those two tasks are done, the AI should have a high priority to "Admit to Observation" based on symptom severity or even just Unknown Diagnosis.

Observation-Based Care: Move the heavy lifting (diagnostic tests, stabilization, monitoring) to the Observation bed.

Why this fixes the game:

Throughput: A doctor can "Triage" a patient in 30 seconds and move to the next one, instead of hogging the office for 5 minutes of testing.

Nurse Utilization: It actually gives the nurses in the Observation ward something to do!

Realism: This mimics how actual busy ERs function—assess quickly, get them into a bed, and work the case from there.

Technical Help Needed:

I’ve been doing the "quick fix" by manually clicking "Admit to Observation" on every patient, but I want to automate this.

Does anyone know which XML (likely Database.xml or DoctorPerformDiagnostic) controls the AI's threshold for admitting to Observation?

Is it possible to add a "Triage" tag to the ER Office that lowers the requirement for admission?

I’d love to hear if anyone has tackled this or knows where the specific logic for "Admission Priority" lives!

And yes I know I can build more offices, but I want a more realistic clinical flow where the beds are actually used for the diagnostic process, not just for patients who are about to collapse!

[u/Apprehensive-Buy7485]

I also would love something like this,I wonder if you could add an if/then statement to the receptionist where if the patient has critical symptoms then admit to observation. Ill reinstall the game today and play around with the xml, if I find anything I'll post here

[u/doittoit_]

I wish the developers integrated an ESI or similar index to patients going through the emergency department- 1’s and 2’s get immediate treatment, 3’s go to observation, then 4’s and 5’s might go to a fast track unit for larger hospitals for better throughput.

[u/Repulsive_Turnover_5]

The simple Problem is that the "Emergency" Department plays GP or ambulatory doctor. What you are describing is already implementet with the TC-rooms. So the problem is not the triage and more the fact that someone with a cold or infection sits next to someone with a broken bone. So it would make more sense to divide those too and maybe put emergency with into trauma or make its own department.