• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Report Shows Emergency Room Waits Increasing

Posted on: Thursday, 7 August 2008, 09:10 CDT

According to new federal statistics released on Wednesday, the average waiting time for emergency room patients has grown from 38 minutes to nearly an hour during the past decade.

Dr. Stephen Pitts, the lead author of the report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the increase is due to supply and demand.

"There are more people arriving at the ERs. And there are fewer ERs," said Pitts.

Since 1996, U.S. emergency rooms have seen a 32 percent increase in visits, up 29 million visits over the last decade.

During the same time, the number of emergency room departments fell from 4,900 to less than 4,600, according to American Hospital Association statistics.

A limited number of hospital beds is another factor in the ER crowding problem, Pitts added.

According to experts, difficulty in getting doctor’s office appointments, and the shortage of surgical specialists, also contributes to the problem.

"It takes me a month to get an appointment for my own doctor, and I'm a physician, for God's sake," said Dr. Ricardo Martinez, an Atlanta ER physician, and executive vice president of Schumacher Group, which manages 140 emergency rooms.

Emergency room waiting time has steadily rose from 38 minutes in 1997, to 47 minutes in 2004, to 56 minutes in 2006.

Although 56 minutes may be the average, it is not typical.  Some very long waits skewed the average, added Pitts.

"Half of people had waiting times of 31 minutes or less," Pitts said.

According to researchers, neither the number of patients arriving by ambulance, nor the number of patients considered to be real emergencies have increased.

In 2006, black patients visited ER departments twice as much as whites, while infants and those over 75 had the highest visitation rates.

According to the study, almost 40 percent of emergency room patients used private insurance, 25 percent used state programs for children, and 17 percent were covered through Medicare. Another 17 percent had no coverage at all.

The report also showed summer and winter as the busiest seasons, and times near 7 p.m. as the most crowded.  Hospitals in the South tended to have a higher number of ER visits than those in the North.

In 2006, half of hospital admissions came because of emergency room visits, up from 36 percent a decade ago.

"The ER has become the front door to the hospital," said Pitts.

Some physicians hope the report will lead to increased government funding for hospital emergency rooms.

"Millions more people each year are seeking emergency care, but emergency departments are continuing to close, often because so much care goes uncompensated," said Dr. Linda Lawrence, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

"This report is very troubling, because it shows that care is being delayed for everyone, including people in pain and with heart attacks," she added.

The study’s results are based on a nationwide survey of 362 hospital emergency departments.

---

On the Net:

• CDC
• American Hospital Association
• American College of Emergency Physicians

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

More News in this Category