Crowding in the emergency department in the absence of boarding – a transition regression model to predict departures and waiting time

摘要

BackgroundCrowding in the emergency department (ED) is associated with increased mortality, increased treatment cost, and reduced quality of care. Crowding arises when demand exceed resources in the ED and a first sign may be increasing waiting time. We aimed to quantify predictors for departure from the ED, and relate this to waiting time in the ED before departure.