Emergency Department Closures And Openings: Spillover Effects On Patient Outcomes In Bystander Hospitals.

ABSTRACT: High-occupancy hospitals may be sensitive to neighboring emergency department (ED) closures and openings, as they already operate at or near capacity. We conducted a retrospective analysis using data for the period 2001-13 to examine outcomes of and treatment received by patients with acute myocardial infarction at so-called bystander EDs that had been exposed to nearby ED closures or openings. We used changes in driving time between an ED and the next-closest one as a proxy for a closure or opening: If driving time increased, for instance, it meant that a nearby ED had closed. When a high-occupancy ED was exposed to a closure that resulted in increased driving time of thirty minutes or more to the next-closest ED, one-year mortality and thirty-day readmission rates increased by 2.39 and 2

SUBMITTER: Hsia RY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7123076 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature