Association of emergency department length of stay with safety-net status.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Performance measures, particularly pay for performance, may have unintended consequences for safety-net institutions caring for disproportionate shares of Medicaid or uninsured patients.

Objective

To describe emergency department (ED) compliance with proposed length-of-stay measures for admissions (8 hours or 480 minutes) and discharges, transfers, and observations (4 hours or 240 minutes) by safety-net status.

Design, setting, and participants

The 2008 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) ED data were stratified by safety-net status (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition) and disposition (admission, discharge, observation, transfer). The 2008 NHAMCS is a national probability sample of 396 hospitals (90.2% unweighted respon

SUBMITTER: Fee C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3641855 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature