Press Ganey Report finds ED wait times increase
Press Ganey’s 2010 Emergency Department Pulse Report: Patient Perspectives on American Health Care reveals that in 2009, the average time patients in the U.S. spent between walking in the door and exiting the emergency department (ED) increased by four minutes to four hours and seven minutes. This is up 31 minutes in total since 2002, when ED reports were first made available. However, one positive note is that 32 states either reduced wait times, or kept increases in wait times to less than five minutes.
In addition, patient satisfaction has stayed the same as it was in 2008, part of an upward trend over the last five years. Communication proved to be important in keeping patients satisfied—those patients who were informed of any delays in care and had ED stays of longer than four hours were just as satisfied as those patients who had ED visits of less than one hour. The report was based on data from1.5 million patients treated at 1,893 hospitals nationwide.
To find the full Press Ganey report, click here.
Has your hospital’s ED implemented some process or new addition to inform patients of how long their care will likely take?
About the Author: Heather Comak is a Managing Editor at HCPro, Inc., where she is the editor of the monthly publication Briefings on Patient Safety, as well as patient safety-related books, webcasts, and audio conferences. She is also is the Assistant Director of the Association for Healthcare Accreditation Professionals (www.accreditationprofessional.com) and manages Patient Safety Monitor (www.patientsafetymonitor.com), of which this blog is a part.
Contact Heather by e-mailing hcomak@hcpro.com
