Providers Call for Standardized ED Metrics

In an effort to reduce emergency department crowding, nine associations representing ED healthcare providers have signed a consensus statement that proposes standardized definitions for six common ED metrics.

Under the consensus statement, for example, an emergency department is defined as "a dedicated location serving an unscheduled patient population requesting emergency assessment," and triage time is defined as "the time that rapid or comprehensive triage is initiated by a registered nurse or institutionally credentialed provider."

AnnMarie Papa, RN, president of the Emergency Nurses Association, said that a standard set of metrics are needed to get everyone on the same page when looking for solutions to the nation's worsening ED crowding issue.  

"Addressing it is one of ENA's top clinical priorities, but we can't solve a problem if we can't agree on how to quantify it," Papa said in a media release. "This consensus statement is a first and important step in reducing crowding and boarding in emergency rooms and helping us provide better and faster care to our patients."

Wait times in emergency departments are surging. The practice of boarding is a symptom of gridlock and prompts patients to leave the hospital without proper care.

The ENA statement includes six agreed-upon definitions for:

1. What an emergency department is;
2. ED arrival time;
3. ED offload time;
4. ED transfer of care from pre-hospital providers' time;
5. ED triage time; and
6. ED treatment space time.

Robi Hellman, clinical practice manager, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, said common metrics are needed because the sickest patients enter the nation's healthcare system through the ED. "Universally defined time stamps and intervals will ensure accurate patient hand-offs and consistency in health records," Hellman said.

The other organizations that signed onto the final statement are: the American Academy of Emergency Medicine; American Academy of Pediatrics; American College of Emergency Physicians; American Nurses Association; Association of periOperative Registered Nurses; Emergency Department Practice Management Association; and National Association of EMS Physicians.

The defined terms may be viewed here.

See Also:
How Boosting ED Efficiency Turbo-charges Metrics
Report: The Coordinated ED
The New ED: Keep Patients Out (but Happy)
ACEP Chief Rails Against ED Diversions, Scheduling