Effect of Emergency Department and ICU Occupancy on Admission Decisions and Outcomes for Critically Ill Patients. The volume of ICU admissions from the ED has increased around 50% from 2001-2009. Hospitals struggle with this increase in critically ill patients as more resources and a higher level of care are required. Issues arise when the ICU has no available beds and critical patients are still presenting in the ED. Situations like this can lead to patients being denied an ICU admission where they would regularly be admitted when beds were available, leading to increased hospital mortality. Other implications with increased ICU admissions include an increase in length of stay in the ED. Critically ill patients have about a 32% increase in ED stay time, be it from boarding till a bed opens up or being denied an ICU admission. These long wait times for admissions can cause further burdens on the ED, such as higher cost, increased usage of resources, and lower adherence to best practices.

Read More