American Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 25, Issue 6 , Pages 643-650, July 2007

Factors associated with longer ED lengths of stay

Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA

Received 19 October 2006; received in revised form 16 November 2006; accepted 17 November 2006.

Abstract 

Objective

The aim of the study was to identify and quantify patient, physician, hospital, and system factors that are associated with a longer ED length of stay.

Methods

Data were from the 2001-2003 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. The primary outcome was length of stay in minutes. Predictor variables were patient level (eg, age, triage score), physician level (eg, level of training), and hospital/system level (eg, geographic location, ownership).

Results

Admitted patients' median length of stay was 255 minutes (interquartile range, 160-400); discharged patients stayed a median of 120 minutes (interquartile range, 70-199). Factors independently associated with longer ED stays for admitted patients were Hispanic ethnicity (+20 minutes), computed tomography scan or magnetic resonance imaging (+36 minutes), and hospital location in a metropolitan area (+32 minutes). Intensive care unit admissions had a shorter length of stay (−30 minutes).

Conclusion

Several factors are associated with significant increases in ED length of stay and may be important factors in strategies to reduce length of stay.

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 Funding and support: This study did not receive any outside funding or support.

 Presented at the Society for General Internal Medicine National Scientific Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, April 2006.

PII: S0735-6757(06)00459-1

doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2006.11.037

American Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 25, Issue 6 , Pages 643-650, July 2007

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