Emergency
Department Overcrowding
Many
cities are now reporting dramatic increases in emergency department
(ED) wait times and ambulance diversions, with implications
for the health and healthcare of millions. In an April 2002
national survey, 62 percent of all U.S. hospitals reported
being "at" or "over" operating capacity,
with this proportion rising to 79 percent for urban hospitals,
and 87 percent for level I trauma centers.
In
Connecticut, ED visits have increased 23% since 1996 to 1.4
million patient visits in 2004, which in turn has placed an
enormous strain on hospitals' general capacity to care for
patients.
As
part of its 2008
Legislative Agenda, CHA will work to reduce emergency
department overcrowding and seek an expansion of mental health
crisis and emergency services.
Related
Resources
Legislative
Task Force on Emergency Department Overcrowding
The
following presentations were delivered by CHA staff at the
December 2006 meeting of the state legislative task force
on emergency department overcrowding headed by State Representative
Peggy Sayers:
Emergency
Department Utilization in Connecticut
Trends
& Challenges: Emergency Departments in Connecticut - Workforce
Issues
Report
Identifies Success Factors for Improving ED Patient Flow
A
new report identifies best practices from 10 hospitals selected
as participants in the Urgent Matters Learning Network, a
national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
to help hospitals eliminate emergency department overcrowding
and communities understand the challenges facing the healthcare
safety net. Each participating hospital developed and
implemented a variety of strategies designed to improve patient
flow in the ED and throughout the hospital to reduce ED overcrowding
overall. Eight common factors were identified as critical
for success, such as securing leadership buy-in and commitment
from the hospital to make these improvements, having the right
multidisciplinary teams in place, and identifying the right
performance measures. The report, “Bursting at the Seams:
Improving Patient Flow to Help America's Emergency
Departments,” can be found at www.urgentmatters.org.
General
Accounting Office (GAO) Report on Hospital Emergency Department
Overcrowding (From GAO Report Abstract)
Hospital
emergency departments are a major part of the nation's healthcare
safety net. Emergency departments report being under increasing
pressure, with the number of visits nationwide increasing
from an estimated 95 million in 1997 to an estimated 108 million
in 2000. GAO was asked to provide information on emergency
department crowding, including the extent hospitals located
in metropolitan areas are experiencing crowding, the factors
contributing to crowding, and the actions hospitals and communities
have taken to address crowding. To conduct this work, GAO
surveyed over 2,000 hospitals and about 74 percent responded.
The survey collected information on crowding, such as data
on diversion--that is, the extent to which hospitals asked
ambulances that would normally bring patients to their hospitals
to go instead to other hospitals that were presumably less
crowded.
To
read the GAO Report, "Hospital Emergency Departments:
Crowded Conditions Vary Among Hospitals and Communities,"
click
here.
Related
Testimony
Monday,
March 6, 2006
HB
5469, An Act Concerning Hospital Emergency Departments
Steven
Hanks, Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs and Chief
Medical Officer at New Britain General Hospital and the
Central Connecticut Health Alliance, and Pat Monahan, CHA's
General Counsel and Vice President, Patient Care Regulation,
testified in opposition to this bill and urged legislators
to address the factors causing emergency department overcrowding.
Click
here to view CHA's testimony on HB 5469.
Tuesday,
March 1, 2005
SB
965, An Act Concerning The Duties Of The Conservator Of
A Person
Carrie
Brady, CHA Vice President, Quality and Performance Reporting,
testified in opposition to this bill, which would have the
effect of unnecessarily prolonging hospital stays for individuals
who no longer need treatment in an acute care facility,
exacerbate emergency department overcrowding problems by
making beds unavailable to those who truly need hospitalization,
and create an unnecessary and potentially detrimental layer
of bureaucracy in an area that is already heavily regulated
to safeguard the interests of persons in the care of conservators.
Click
here to view the testimony.
|
