KITCHENER — One in five visits to Canadian emergency departments is for minor medical conditions that could be treated in a doctor's office or clinic, according to a new report.

While many emergency units are busy treating colds, sore throats, earaches and other complaints that could be handled elsewhere, St. Mary's General Hospital has seen a drop in the number of visits by healthier patients thanks to its innovative online clock showing emergency room wait times.

"What we found was there were some patients who just decided not to come," said hospital president Don Shilton.

Those less urgent patients instead go to a family doctor or urgent care clinic — a more appropriate setting for minor conditions as pointed out by the study recently released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

"They still sought care," Shilton said. "I think that's the kind of ideal situation."

That frees up emergency room staff to see patients who are sicker, sooner, he said.

According to the report, young children had the highest rate of emergency room visits for conditions that could be treated elsewhere — with upper respiratory and ear infections among the top reasons. People who live in rural areas are also more likely to go to an emergency department.

More than 1.4 million visits to Canadian emergency departments were for minor medical complaints in 2013/14.

When St. Mary's launched the real-time wait clock, it expected those less-ill patients would hold off or come immediately depending on the current and projected wait times. But what happened was a 12 per cent reduction in the volume of less sick patients, a trend that continues more than two years after the clock went live.

"We didn't anticipate that was going to happen," Shilton said.