The effect of boarders on emergency department process flow

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Eoin Fogarty1, Jean Saunders2, Fergal Cummins3

  • 1Emergency Department, University of Limerick Hospital, Limerick, Ireland.

The Journal of Emergency Medicine
|December 24, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Emergency department (ED) boarding negatively impacts patient care, reducing compliance with the 6-hour disposition standard. This study quantizes the relationship between ED boarders and time to disposition efficiency.

Area of Science:

  • Healthcare Management
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Patient Flow Optimization

Background:

  • Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a global challenge.
  • Long waiting times and patient boarding are significant concerns.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the correlation between ED boarders and the percentage of patients meeting the 6-hour disposition standard.
  • To quantify the impact of boarding on ED efficiency.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective review of ED data over a 2-year period.
  • Analysis of daily ED attendances, hospital admissions, and boarder numbers.
  • Comparison with the percentage of patients compliant with the 6-hour disposition standard.

Main Results:

  • A 0.37% daily decrease in ED compliance with the 6-hour standard was observed for each boarder.
  • The study period spanned two years, analyzing trends in ED performance.

Conclusions:

  • Patient boarding in the ED adversely affects compliance with the 6-hour time to disposition standard.
  • Reducing ED boarding is crucial for improving patient flow and care quality.
Abstract

Keywords:
overcrowdingprocess flow

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