Emergency Department

Hospitals Aim to Help Patients Pick an ED By Posting Waiting Times on the Web

By Denene Brox

Sites are linked to ED tracking tools and provide up-to-the minute data

A handful of hospitals nationwide are hoping that the Internet will become a powerful new tool in fighting emergency department overcrowding. Their strategy: post up-to-the-minute ED wait times on the Internet.

"We found a way to connect the ED patient tracking technology that we already had to our Web site. This way it's automated, updated every two minutes, and we've been really pleased with the consistency and accuracy of the product," says Audrianne Schneider, regional marketing director, Iasis Healthcare in Arizona. Wait times at the system's hospitals are posted online at http://arizonaer.com.

The goal is to give the approximately 75 percent of ED patients who arrive by car with non-life-threatening emergencies the ability to make an informed choice about which facility will offer the shortest wait times.

"We run three emergency departments that are about 20 miles apart. The online clocks enable people who live in the area to really have choices by going online, taking a look at the times, and then making a decision about which emergency department they want to go to," says Michael Saxe, M.D., chairman of emergency medicine at Middlesex Hospital, Middletown, Conn. "If they do that, patients will self-triage themselves away from an emergency department that's crowded to one that is not crowded."

To get the word out to the public about the wait time clocks, which went live last September, Middlesex sent out press releases and held a press conference, which got picked up in local newscasts and newspapers. Iasis Healthcare used billboards and television ads to inform the public about the launch of the clocks last year.

A key in public education is clarifying the difference between length of stay and wait time, which refers to the time it takes to see a physician. Length of stay tracks the time a patient enters the ED to when they leave. Iasis posts both times on its site.

Schneider says traffic to the site has been "very consistent" since the launch. Iasis watches metrics on site visits monthly.

"Patient satisfaction research suggests that wait times are a key-determinant of patient experiences," says Mary Malone, president of Malone Advisory Services, who consults with health care organizations about service excellence. "Knowing waiting times in advance could create a better patient experience."

This article 1st appeared in the February 2010 issue of HHN Magazine.

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