Report: Emergency Room Wait Times Due to Diagnostic Tests

Report: Emergency Room Wait Times Due to Diagnostic Tests

A new study by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy found that diagnostic tests lead to lengthy emergency room (ER) wait times, and not shortage of beds.

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According to a new report by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, dismal waiting times in ER is due to diagnostic tests, like CT scans, X-rays, urinalysis and blood work. This contradicts the long-held assumption that it is bed shortages that cause overcrowding in hospitals and force patients to wait for hours in the ER. The study concludes the length of time needed to get results from medical tests in hospital ERs is a key factor in determining wait times.

The study was based on Winnipeg which sees about 250,000 emergency department visits a year, or 610 visits per day. More than half of those visits would involve some type of diagnostic test. The main findings are as follows: -

The number and type of medical tests and scans done in the emergency department have the greatest impact on wait times

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Patients with serious illnesses would not have long wait times even if the waiting room were crowded

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The number of ER patients waiting for a hospital bed has only a moderate effect on ER waits for other patients

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Only 12 per cent of ER visits end with a patient transferred into a hospital bed

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Winnipeg patients often have much longer ER wait times than patients in other parts of the country

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Adding more ER treatment areas, or freeing up more hospital beds, may not be the most effective approach to reducing ER wait times for Winnipeggers

The lead author says, "We learned that it can be very time-consuming for patients to undergo tests, for medical professionals to interpret the results, and for staff to take action based on the results."

He recommends that experts review ER diagnostic tests and evaluate the data if they do change processes to check if those changes can reduce wait times. The focus, he says should what's happening within the emergency department and not just on freeing up hospital beds.

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