January 18, 2008
Longer ER Waits
The major news outlets have been covering a recent study that shows Americans are waiting longer in the emergency room.
The Washington Post reports that in 2006 the Institute of Medicine labeled the countries ER system "overburdened, underfunded and highly fragmented."
In San Diego, ER patients have to wait up to 12 hours in the emergency room.
In 2005 the Boston Globe reported that some ER patients are 'boarded' until a hospital bed becomes available. One patient waited 22 hours before a bed was available.
We even see disparities in the amount of time people wait with blacks and Hispanics waiting seven and nine minutes longer respectively than whites in the ER.
In a blog post, WhiteCoat offers this take:
No emergency physician is going to give someone monthly prescriptions for high blood pressure medications. No ED performs yearly health screenings. “Treat ‘em and street ‘em.” “Move the meat.”
Really what we’re doing is forcing indigent patients to wait until an emergency develops before society believes that it is “OK” to seek emergency care. How much more bass-ackward can we be?
The original study can be found in the journal Health Affairs.
UPDATE- Cleveland's WCPN hosted a show on the topic of emergency services in Cleveland.