Emergency Department Crowding: The Nature of the Problem and Why It Matters

Kirk Jensen ()
Additional contact information
Kirk Jensen: BestPractices

Chapter Chapter 4 in Patient Flow, 2013, pp 97-105 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The current state of the American healthcare system has focused national attention on the core issues of patient satisfaction, patient safety, and patient flow. Acute-care settings are often plagued with waits, delays, and dissatisfaction. Nowhere is this more observable and the impact more palpable than in hospital emergency departments (EDs). The profession, the public, and the press have highlighted this area as an important healthcare system concern. There is a disparity between the high level of interest in the core issues, an appreciation of the true nature of the problem, and the ability to effectively implement the solutions. Even in the hospitals and emergency departments where the required knowledge and competencies are available, the ability to effectively integrate them into a functioning and effective improvement program may not exist. Emergency departments are complex operational micro-systems. This chapter outlines and defines key challenges, opportunities, and solutions surrounding emergency department crowding. It also provides a wide-ranging overview of the key drivers behind emergency department crowding and the opportunities for improvement, including important safety, service, and workforce implications. Clinical, volume, workforce, and system issues all play a role in solving crowding.

Keywords: Admissions; Boarding; Behavioral health boarders; Capacity; Crowding; Emergency services; ICU utilization; Length of stay; Non-urgent; Patient safety; Pediatrics; Physician burnout; Physician productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:isochp:978-1-4614-9512-3_4

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9781461495123

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-9512-3_4

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in International Series in Operations Research & Management Science from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().