Goal: Boarding emergency department (ED) patients is associated with reductions in quality of care, patient safety and experience, and ED operational efficiency. However, ED boarding is ultimately reflective of inefficiencies in hospital capacity management. The ability of a hospital to accommodate variability in patient flow presumably affects its financial performance, but this relationship is not well studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Faculty productivity is of interest for hospital and university administrators as pressure is placed on them by government and private payors. Further, the effect of trainees on clinical productivity is of personal interest to physicians because their performance evaluations and earning potential are often tied to their productivity. Several groups have utilized creative methodology to study the effect of learners on emergency department (ED) productivity, but they were faced with multiple confounding variables for which it was difficult to adjust.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open
December 2020
Objective: Our investigation compared throughput metrics and utilization measures for freestanding emergency departments (FSEDs) versus hospital-based emergency departments (HBEDs) of similar volumes in the United States.
Methods: This study is a cross sectional survey of 183 FSEDs and 317 HBEDs located across the United States using the Emergency Department Benchmarking Alliance (EDBA) Database. We measured common emergency department (ED) throughput metrics.
Development of a successful research program can seem daunting when looked at from the starting line. It will take years if not decades to succeed and become sustainable. It requires local partnerships and mentoring; it mandates the establishment of review boards; it requires national health policies to allow for protected time for research in salaries and for fund granting agencies to be set up; it requires training of researchers and support staff as well as a change in the mindset of clinical staff on the floor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe consensus conference on "Advancing Research in Emergency Department (ED) Operations and Its Impact on Patient Care," hosted by The ED Operations Study Group (EDOSG), convened to craft a framework for future investigations in this important but understudied area. The EDOSG is a research consortium dedicated to promoting evidence-based clinical practice in emergency medicine. The consensus process format was a modified version of the NIH Model for Consensus Conference Development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The objective was to review and update key definitions and metrics for emergency department (ED) performance and operations.
Methods: Forty-five emergency medicine leaders convened for the Third Performance Measures and Benchmarking Summit held in Las Vegas, February 21-22, 2014. Prior to arrival, attendees were assigned to workgroups to review, revise, and update the definitions and vocabulary being used to communicate about ED performance and operations.