Becker's has compiled a list of hospitals and health systems with the shortest emergency department visit times using CMS' Timely and Effective Care-Hospital data.
The CDC tracks the median length of stay for ED patients as part of its "timely and effective care" measure set. The data was released July 31 and covers ED visits recorded from October 2022 through September 2023. Measures in this dataset apply to all adults and children treated in hospitals paid under either the inpatient or outpatient prospective payment systems. Learn more about the measures here.
Nationwide, the median ED visit time was 163 minutes, up from 162 minutes in the 12-month period ending Sept. 20, 2023, CMS data shows.
Most hospitals on this list are small community or critical access hospitals that may see lower annual ED volumes and patient acuities than facilities operating Level 1 or 2 trauma centers. CMS does not include hospitals' total ED volumes or case mix index in its dataset.
Below are 12 hospitals and health systems with the shortest median ED visit times, along with the previous wait times from the last data set for comparison.
|
Median ED visit time (for 12-month period ending September 2023) |
Sample size |
Previous median ED visit time (for 12-month period ending September 2022) |
Sample size |
|
|
Rio Grande Hospital (Del Norte, Colo.) |
38 minutes |
132 patients |
52* minutes |
113 patients |
|
Lady of the Sea General Hospital (Cut Off, La.) |
43 |
284 |
48 |
471 |
|
Hopedale (Ill.) Hospital |
47 |
218 |
50 |
363 |
|
Mitchell County Hospital District (Colorado City, Texas) |
55 |
407 |
50 |
499 |
|
Franklin Hospital (Benton, Ill.) |
58 |
60 |
- |
- |
|
Mille Lacs Health System (Onamia, Minn.) |
58 |
286 |
- |
- |
|
Big Sandy (Mont.) Medical Center |
58 |
44 |
65 |
161 |
|
Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital (Kapaa, Hawaii) |
59 |
387 |
56 |
496 |
|
Richardson Medical Center (Rayville, La.) |
60 |
396 |
60 |
385 |
|
Mercy Hospital Tishomingo (Okla.) |
60 |
368 |
63 |
370 |
|
Seymour (Texas) Hospital |
60 |
261 |
81 |
134 |
|
Mon Health Marion (Whitehall, W.Va.) |
60 |
353 |
79 |
273 |
*Data is based on a shorter time period than required, according to CMS.