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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce the proportion of emergency department visits with a longer wait time than recommended — AHS‑09

Status: Little or no detectable change

  
Little or no detectable change
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Most Recent Data:
20.5 percent (2021)

Target:
12.0 percent

Desired Direction:
Decrease desired

Baseline:
19.2 percent of persons had an emergency department wait time exceeding that recommended for any category in 2016

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Reduce the proportion of hospital emergency department visits in which the wait time to see an emergency department clinician exceeds the recommended timeframe

Target-Setting Method
Percentage point improvement

Data Source:  National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), CDC/NCHS

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Summary

Longer emergency department wait times are linked to both delays in care and patients leaving the hospital before getting care. The number of patients who need care, the number of available staff and hospital beds, and the amount of time it takes to diagnose patients can all affect emergency department wait times. Many studies have found that a variety of interventions can help reduce wait times.

Topics:  Health Care Access and Quality, Hospital and Emergency Services

Workgroup: Access to Health Services Workgroup

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