Washington, D.C. - The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) said the findings of a study published today in Health Affairs are alarming, but not surprising, in that they support what ACEP has been saying for many years:  Growing wait times in our nation's emergency departments are harming patients.

"Emergency physicians have said for years that crowding and long wait times are hurting our patients - insured and uninsured equally." said Linda Lawrence, MD, president of ACEP.  "This study supports findings from the Institute of Medicine reports in 2006 and many other sources, as well as the daily experiences of emergency physicians.  Ever-lengthening waits are a frightening trend because any delays in care can make the difference between life and death for some patients.  The number of emergency patients is increasing while the number of hospital beds continues to drop.  It is a recipe for disaster."

However, the study's sub-heading suggesting that non-urgent patients contribute significantly to delays is not supported by the data and is misleading.

"If you look at the study, the data do not support this statement about nonurgent patients," said Dr. Lawrence.  "In fact, nonurgent patients do not prevent people with more urgent problems from being seen, because emergency departments use a triage process by which the sickest patients are cared for first.  Nonurgent patients may wait a long time in a waiting room, but they represent only 14 percent of all emergency department patients and this number has remained fairly stable for the past decade.  The majority of emergency patients are extremely sick and require a great deal of medical attention and resources.  Overcrowding results when critically ill patients who have been admitted to the hospital are "boarded," sometimes for days.  This ties up beds and emergency staff and renders them unable to treat additional patients from the waiting room or from an ambulance." 

Dr. Lawrence also said emergency physicians are providing a health care safety net for everyone and are standing in the gap to save lives, despite a broken health care system that increasingly blocks access to care.  

"National health care reform must strengthen the nation's emergency departments and provide additional resources for hospital emergency departments," said Dr. Lawrence.

ACEP is a national medical specialty society representing emergency medicine.  ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies.

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