Patients in Washington, D.C., had the highest median time spent in the emergency department, while patients in North Dakota had the lowest, CMS data shows.
The agency's "Timely and Effective Care" dataset, updated Jan. 31, tracks the average median time patients spend in the emergency department before leaving. The measures apply to children and adults treated at hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System or the Outpatient Prospective Payment System, as well as those that voluntarily report data on relevant measures for Medicare patients, Medicare managed care patients and non-Medicare patients.
Data was collected from April 2022 through March 2023. Averages include data for Veterans Health Administration and Department of Defense hospitals. Learn more about the methodology here.
Nationwide, the median time patients spent in the ED was 162 minutes, up from 159 minutes in the 12-month period ending in March 2022, according to CMS data. In the same period ending in 2021, this figure sat at 149 minutes.
Here's how each state and Washington, D.C., stacks up.
North Dakota — 107 minutes
Nebraska — 114
South Dakota — 115
Iowa — 117
Oklahoma — 117
Hawaii — 120
Kansas — 122
Montana — 127
Mississippi — 128
Arkansas — 131
Louisiana — 132
Wyoming — 133
Minnesota — 134
Utah — 135
Indiana — 137
Wisconsin — 139
Alaska — 141
Idaho — 141
Colorado — 142
Texas — 145
Alabama — 146
Nevada — 146
Kentucky — 148
West Virginia — 150
Washington — 153
Missouri — 156
Ohio — 157
Georgia — 158
Tennessee — 160
New Mexico — 163
New Hampshire — 164
Florida — 168
Michigan — 169
Oregon — 169
South Carolina — 169
Virginia — 170
Maine — 174
Illinois — 176
North Carolina — 179
California — 182
Pennsylvania — 182
Vermont — 183
Connecticut — 186
Arizona — 190
New Jersey — 194
New York — 202
Delaware — 211
Massachusetts — 214
Rhode Island — 214
Maryland — 247
District of Columbia — 330