This means you may have to wait for treatment when more seriously ill or injured patients need to be seen first. Treatment delays can result from large patient volumes, waiting for x-ray and laboratory results, waiting for specialist care, and shortages of beds for patients needing hospital admission. Managed care restrictions have contributed to hospital closings, mergers, and consolidations at record rates, resulting in increased crowding and delays in emergency departments. Approximately 43 million Americans do not have health insurance, and when they need medical care, they turn to their nearest emergency department. Despite these problems, emergency departments have sought to improve customer service and decrease waiting times by registering patients at bedsides and streamlining processes for care.
Emergency care is an essential public service.
When a community loses its emergency department, everyone loses. A. People wait in emergency departments for many reasons. Waiting for the sickest patients to be seen first. Also, unlike a doctor's office, where appointments are spread out, many emergency patients may arrive at once. Waiting for x-ray and laboratory results.