Why Does the ER Take So Long?
If you’ve ever rushed to the emergency room after a bad fall or sprained ankle, then you might be familiar with a long night spent in the waiting area. You may have watched as seemingly dozens of patients waltzed right past you to receive treatment or check into a room. Meanwhile, your ankle continued to throb, and it became increasingly difficult to use a polite, indoor voice with the hospital staff. Emergency rooms hold a mixed reputation among patients, but almost everyone agrees that wait times can seem excessive. How do hospitals prioritize their patients? Medical condition usually determines who gets seen when, but there are other reasons why your visit might take a couple of hours or more.
People in critical condition get seen first.
If you’re experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, stroke symptoms and other critical signs, then you’ll likely be seen before other people. Bones that have broken the skin and head trauma also thrust you to the front of the line. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect VIP treatment if the triage staff identifies immediate need or determines that you’re in critical condition. For everything else, you’ll be assigned to the dreaded waiting room.
Urgent issues such as stomach pain and broken bones beneath the surface may be serious, but they don’t always mean that you’ll get immediate attention. Hospitals are short-staffed today, and many emergency rooms have been cut due to lack of funding. To maximize patient care, your local hospital might prioritize strictly based on obvious symptoms. Everyone else will have to wait until a room becomes available or the next shift starts.
More people are visiting the ER, and it’s not always an emergency.
In 2010, about
130 million people visited the ER, which represents an increase of 34 percent since 1995. The uninsured population accounts for part of the spike in emergency visits, but you can’t always blame people without insurance for slow wait times and overcrowding. The fact is that many people take a trip to their local hospital when they could easily wait to see a doctor or visit an urgent care center instead. Truly life-threatening emergencies always demand a call to 9-1-1, but about 20 percent of the cases that ER doctors see don’t fit this description.
It’s small comfort to know that if you can wait, then your condition isn’t considered a top priority. However, symptoms can worsen with time, and waiting isn’t always a good sign. In a report published in 2009, the Government Accountability Office determined that patients who needed to be seen in less than a minute were being seen in about 28 minutes instead. Half an hour makes a huge difference when your life is on the line.
There are ways to streamline your visit.
You might not be seen for two hours, but you can streamline the process and make it easier on the staff by cooperating from the start. Readers Digest interviewed hospital staff from around the country in a 2010 survey to determine some of the “secrets” of the nation’s emergency departments. The most consistent piece of advice offered was to
cooperate with your doctors and nurses. Cooperation includes giving full details about your condition, avoiding lying, and following the orders that are given to you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but avoid harassing the staff with unnecessary complaints.
You might also be surprised to learn that some hospital staff members play favorites. If you’re on your cell phone or being rude, then you may not get seen for a while, assuming that your condition isn’t critical. Nurses and other professionals aren’t easily intimidated; so don’t attempt to bully information out of them when it comes to your or your loved one’s care. Give them your complete medical history and listen carefully to their instructions. Your wait time might be reduced if you cooperate throughout the process.
Urgent care centers offer a better alternative for some.
Life-threatening medical conditions require a trip to the ER, but if you have symptoms that aren’t as pressing, then you may benefit from visiting your local urgent care facility instead. These places are staffed by real doctors with emergency medical training, who can provide immediate care. Most facilities also have at least on-site X-ray equipment and EKG machines to administer diagnostic tests. Sore throats, unexpected falls, sprains and other minor but urgent conditions can be treated by walk-in clinics. Best of all, you’ll be seen within 20 minutes on average. Only a handful of urgent care clinics have wait times of longer than 40 minutes.
Not only will you wait less at a walk-in clinic, but you’ll also pay a lot less. Emergency room visits might set you back about $1,000. The same trip to an urgent care center will cost about $150 including your co-pay and any testing done. More important, by visiting an urgent care center for your non-life-threatening condition, you’ll open up a spot at the ER for someone who really needs to be seen.
