Study: EDs not seeing patients quickly enough

Emergency departments usually aren't seeing patients in the recommended time frames, with only a small percentage meeting triage targets for patients needing to see a physician promptly, according to a new study.

The study, which appears in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, concluded that only 30 percent of EDs got patients in to see a doctor within expected time frames. Also, just 13.8 percent of EDs hit their triage goal of getting patients who needed it in to see a doctor within one hour.

Meanwhile, standard ED wait times remain long. The study found that only 24.5 percent of EDs got patients who needed inpatient care admitted within four hours, creating a large backlog among patients waiting to be screened by ED physicians, researchers concluded.

To learn more about this study:
- read this HealthLeaders Media piece

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