Does crowding influence emergency department treatment time and disposition?

The objective of this study was to determine whether crowding influences treatment times and disposition decisions for emergency department (ED) patients.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study at 2 hospitals from January 1, 2014, to July 1, 2014. Adult ED visits with dispositions of discharge, admission, or transfer were included. Treatment times were modeled by linear regression with log-transformation; disposition decisions (admission or transfer vs discharge) were modeled by logistic regression. Both models adjusted for chief complaint, Emergency Severity Index (ESI), and 4 crowding metrics in quartiles: waiting count, treatment count, boarding count, and National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale.

We included 21,382 visits at site A (12.9% excluded) and 29,193 at site B (15.0% excluded). Respective quartiles of treatment count increased treatment times by 7.1%, 10.5%, and 13.3% at site A (P < 0.001) and by 4.0%, 6.5%, and 10.2% at site B (P < 0.001). The fourth quartile of treatment count increased estimates of treatment time for patients with chest pain and ESI level 2 from 2.5 to 2.9 hours at site A (20 minutes) and from 3.0 to 3.3 hours at site B (18 minutes). Treatment times decreased with quartiles of waiting count by 5.6%, 7.2%, and 7.3% at site B (P < 0.001). Odds of admission or transfer increased with quartiles of waiting count by 8.7%, 9.6%, and 20.3% at site A (P = 0.011) and for the third (11.7%) and fourth quartiles (27.3%) at site B (P < 0.001).

Local crowding influenced ED treatment times and disposition decisions at 2 hospitals after adjusting for chief complaint and ESI.