What is the impact of an overcrowded ER?

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding causes problems for patients and staff, including increased waiting times, increased ambulance diversion, increased length of stay, increased medical errors, increased patient mortality, and increased harm to hospitals due to financial losses.

What is overcrowding in the emergency department?

[1,2] Overcrowding of EDs is defined as “the situation in which ED function is impeded primarily because of the excessive number of patients waiting to be seen, undergoing assessment and treatment, or waiting for departure comparing to the physical or staffing capacity of the ED.”[3] Patients’ safety and privacy,[4,5] …

Why do you think emergency departments are overcrowded?

These include inability to access primary care in timely manner, inability to access specialist care in a timely manner, inability to access imaging studies and inability to access home care. Access to appropriate care outside of the ED has been identified as major contributors to ED overcrowding in multiple studies.

What is the most common cause of emergency department overcrowding?

Similar to EDs in other parts of the world, prolonged length of stay in the ED, delayed laboratory and imaging tests, delay of consultants, and lack of sufficient inpatient beds are the most important causes of overcrowding in the ED.

What are the effects of overcrowding in the emergency department?

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding causes problems for patients and staff, including increased waiting times, increased ambulance diversion, increased length of stay, increased medical errors, increased patient mortality, and increased harm to hospitals due to financial losses.

How does length of emergency department affect mortality?

Results: There were 41,256 admissions from the ED. Mortality generally increased with increasing boarding time, from 2.5% in patients boarded less than 2 hours to 4.5% in patients boarding 12 hours or more  (p < 0.001).

What is the definition of crowding in the emergency department?

There is no internationally agreed and widely used definition of crowding. Markers of crowding might include:  Prolonged Ambulance offload times (e.g. > 15 minutes).  Long waits for patients to be assessed by Emergency Department clinicians (e.g. > 1 hour).

How are patient outcomes measured in emergency departments?

Most emergency departments do not routinely track patient outcomes, except for patient satisfaction, recidivism, and rates of leaving without being seen. We need to extend the evaluation of emergency care to either the resolution of the problem or transfer of care to a provider better suited to tackle the patient’s needs.