"Boarding" on the Rise in U.S. Hospital Emergency Rooms
The practice of “boarding” patients, where emergency-room patients are left in hallways for several hours before finally being assigned to a hospital room, is on the rise nationally. A study by the American College of Emergency Physicians found that nearly half of all ER doctors surveyed routinely boarded up to five patients each day, for four hours or longer.
The Wall Street Journal reports that physicians at the ACEP annual conference have suggested steps such as employing industrial production models to increase ER efficiency, shifting boarded patients to other hospital departments, and asking intensive care departments to take on more ER patients.
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