Is your emergency department crowded? If so, your hospital may be among the many in the U.S. experiencing crowding because it hasn't adopted strategies and interventions proven to reduce such conditions, according to a study in Health Affairs.
Researchers from Washington D.C.-based George Washington University crunched the numbers on crowding in U.S. hospitals between 2007 and 2010. They found that while adoption of strategies to reduce crowing in the ED has increased, the most crowded EDs are in hospitals that haven't implemented known preventative measures.
"Emergency department crowding is clearly linked to worse patient care and worse outcomes, including higher mortality rates, higher rates of complications and errors," Jesse Pines, MD, professor of emergency medicine and health policy at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said in a statement. "Patients also, no surprise, have a poorer patient experience. People want fast and effective care, and many of our nation's most crowded emergency departments have not addressed this problem despite the wide availability of proven interventions."
The average number of interventions adopted increased from 5.2 to 6.6 percent over the four years for which data was reviewed, according to the paper. Interventions such as a protocol for bedside registration and surgical schedule smoothing, shown to reduce problems of overcrowding, have not been implemented in 19 percent and 94 percent of EDs, respectively.
"Thus, while adoption of strategies to reduce ED crowding is increasing, many of the nation's most crowded EDs have not adopted proven interventions," the authors concluded.