Emergency room crowding: a marker of hospital health

Emergency room (ER) crowding has become a widespread problem in hospitals across the United States. Two main reasons can be cited. First, emergency medicine is the only specialty in the "House of Medicine" that has a federal mandate to provide care to any patients requesting treatment. Second, primary care providers are in short supply, forcing sick people to seek medical care in ERs. Once seen as an "ER problem," crowding has become more appropriately recognized as a "hospital problem," related to factors beyond the doors of the ER. This realization has led many regulating agencies to launch corrective attempts, some of which have actually been effective. Now, the lack of ER crowding is considered a measure of the success of a hospital or system. This review considers the complex causative factors that contribute to ER crowding and explores corrective measures that may prove helpful in alleviating this paralyzing condition.