government
ED wait times increase nationwide
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 2, 2010
The average wait for emergency department care increased by four minutes between 2008 and 2009 to reach four hours and seven minutes, according to the 2010 Press Ganey Emergency Department Pulse Report, released in late July. This follows a two-minute decrease in wait times between 2007 and 2008.
Patients are willing to wait for emergency care if they're well-informed about the potential delays, the report found. Patients who received good or very good information about wait times also reported nearly the same satisfaction -- about 97% -- even though their waits ranged from less than an hour to more than four hours. Patients who received poor information about wait times reported poor satisfaction across the board.
Press Ganey is a consultant focused on measuring and improving the quality of health care. The report is available online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/08/02/gvbf0802.htm.
