IntroductionEmergency department (ED) crowding is widespread, and can result in care delays, medical errors, increased costs, and decreased patient satisfaction. Simultaneously, while capacity constraints on EDs are worsening, contributing factors such as patient volume and inpatient bed capacity are often outside the influence of ED administrators. Therefore, systems engineering approaches that improve throughput and reduce waste may hold the most readily available gains. Decreasing radiology turnaround times improves ED patient throughput and decreases patient waiting time. We sought to investigate the impact of systems engineering science targeting ED radiology transport delays and determine the most effective techniques.
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