Emergency Department Length of Stay The length of stay (LOS) in Emergency (ED) can be significantly different for patients treated and discharged from emergency, than for those subsequently admitted to an inpatient bed. The additional time required for admitted patients includes time for care, consultation for complex conditions as well as time associated with waiting for assignment to a hospital unit and movement to an inpatient bed.
A target is ED LOS of under 4 hours for discharged patients with a goal to have 90% or more of these patients having a LOS of 4 hours or less. For admitted patients a goal is to have 90% or more moved to an inpatient space within 8 hours. Some limitations exist to determine times accurately.
The following table presents the percentage of discharged patients with a length of stay in emergency under 4 hours, admitted patients with a length of stay in emergency under 8 hours, and the percentage of emergency Department visits documented as Left Without Being Seen (LWBS). LWBS includes patients that left without seeing a physician or left against medical advice or prior to treatment.
Q4 (Jan. 1 to March 31, 2009)
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