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The Financial Impact of Ambulance Diversions and Patient Elopements |
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| Authors: | Thomas Falvo DO Lance Grove RT EMT-P Ruth Stachura RN William Zirkin MD |
| Affiliation: | Health Services Design Section, Department of Emergency Medicine, York Hospital, WellSpan Health System, York, PA;Graduate Division of Business and Management, School of Professional Studies in Business and Education, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD |
| Abstract: | Objectives Admission process delays and other throughput inefficiencies are a leading cause of emergency department (ED) overcrowding, ambulance diversion, and patient elopements. Hospital capacity constraints reduce the number of treatment beds available to provide revenue-generating patient services. The objective of this study was to develop a practical method for quantifying the revenues that are potentially lost as a result of patient elopements and ambulance diversion. Methods Historical data from 62,588 patient visits to the ED of a 450-bed nonprofit community teaching hospital in central Pennsylvania between July 2004 and June 2005 were used to estimate the value of potential patient visits foregone as a result of ambulance diversion and patients leaving the ED without treatment. Results The study hospital may have lost $3,881,506 in net revenue as a result of ambulance diversions and patient elopements from the ED during a 12-month period. Conclusions Significant revenue may be foregone as a result of throughput delays that prevent the ED from utilizing its existing bed capacity for additional patient visits. |
| Keywords: | emergency medicine revenue capacity ambulance diversion elopement left without treatment |