The average visitor to an emergency room waited four hours, seven minutes, before receiving medical care, according to Press Ganey Associates. Not surprisingly, the shorter the waiting period, the more satisfied the patient. Those who waited for less than two hours ranked their satisfaction as 89 out of 100, where 100 is completely satisfied. Those who waited for six hours or more ranked their satisfaction as 77.
Keeping patients comfortable and informed makes for greater satisfaction scores. Among those who had to wait six hours or more, those who received very poor or poor information about delays ranked their satisfaction at 46 and 61, respectively. Those who received good or very good information about delays ranked their satisfaction at 84 and 97, respectively.
Similarly, patients who waited for six hours or more and who said their comfort level while in the waiting room was very poor or poor ranked their satisfaction at 42 and 56, respectively, whereas those who ranked their comfort level as good or very good ranked their satisfaction at 79 and 94, respectively.
Those who waited for less than an hour had similar ratings based on their comfort level. Those who said their comfort level was very poor ranked their satisfaction at 40, whereas those who said they were very comfortable ranked their satisfaction at 96.
Source: “Pulse Report 2010: Emergency Department,” Press Ganey Associates, Abby Szklarek, PR Manager, 404 Columbia Pl., South Bend, IN 46601; 574-309-7961; aszklarek@pressganey.com; www.pressganey.com.
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