Variables That Affect Patient Throughput Times in an Academic Emergency Department

Abstract

One of the most important parameters that influence patient satisfaction with emergency department care is their perception of throughput time. It is defined in our department as the time from patient arrival to time of discharge. Measurement of throughput time is one ob jective measure of efficiency that is feasible in most emer gency departments. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of certain demographic and resource utiliza tion factors on patient throughput times. Analysis of vari ants through multiple regression was used to determine associations between the average daily throughput time and factors commonly assumed to have significant influ ence on patient throughput time. Our data analysis found that patient throughput was significantly affected by the number of inpatient admissions from the emergency de partment, daily census in the main emergency depart ment, pediatric volume, and the number of ambulance arrivals. Several factors that were commonly assumed to affect patient throughput time, such as nursing hours worked and day of the week, were not significant.