The effects of publishing emergency department wait time on patient utilization patterns in a community with two emergency department sites: a retrospective, quasi-experiment design

Abstract

BackgroundProviding emergency department (ED) wait time information to the public has been suggested as a mechanism to reduce lengthy ED wait times (by enabling patients to select the ED site with shorter wait time), but the effects of such a program have not been evaluated. We evaluated the effects of such a program in a community with two ED sites.MethodsDescriptive statistics for wait times of the two sites before and after the publication of wait time information were used to evaluate the effects of the publication of wait time information on wait times. Multivariate logistical regression was used to test whether or not individual patients used published wait time to decide which site to visit.ResultsWe found that the rates of wait times exceeding 4 h, and the 95th percentile of wait times in the two sites decreased after the publication of wait time information, even though the average wait times experienced a slight increase. We also found that after controlling for other factors, the site with shorter wait time had a higher likelihood of being selected after the publication of wait time information, but there was no such relationship before the publication.ConclusionsThese findings were consistent with the hypothesis that the publication of wait time information leads to patients selecting the site with shorter wait time. While publishing ED wait time information did not improve average wait time, it reduced the rates of lengthy wait times.

The Obstetrics Gynecology and Children’s Hospital Emergency Room waiting time before hospitalization

“…We also found that November was the slowest month in the emergency room. In contrast, other studies have indicated that the emergency rooms are busiest from August to January 21 . Interestingly, we found that the acceptance waiting time during April to November was significantly longer than that during the period from June and September (p < 0.05).…”

“…We believe the increased congestion in our hospital during the daytime hours is due to the shortage of physician specialists in our hospital; therefore, patients consult the emergency room for examinations. Xie et al 21 and Guttmann et al 22 indicated that patient congestion increased in the emergency rooms in the order 8am -4pm > 4pm -12pm > 12am-8am. These findings are congruent with those from our study.…”

The impact of the duration of admission to the emergency room on the mortality of intensive care patients

“…The patient density in the ER was reported to increase between 08:00-16:00, 16:00-24:00, and 24:00-08:00 h, respectively. [14,15] There are also studies reporting that the maximum number of admittances in the ER takes place between 16:00-24:00 h, with a rate of 50.5%. [16] In this study, the highest number of admittances was between 08:00-24:00, whereas there were a few admittances between 24:00-08:00 h. These findings are in accordance with the literature.…”

Posted Emergency Department Wait Times Are Not Always Accurate

“…To our knowledge, no study regarding the accuracy of posted wait times has been published. Xie and Youash evaluated the effects of publishing ED wait times on ED utilization in a community with two EDs. That study found that wait times exceeding four hours decreased after the publication of ED wait times and that the site with the shortest wait time had a higher likelihood of being selected.…”

“…Hospitals around the United States are advertising emergency department (ED) wait times on Internet sites, billboards, smartphone applications, Twitter, and text messaging . This is a marketing campaign to compete for patients who are assumed to have more discretionary income and less discretionary time.…”