Patient ED turnaround times: a comparative review.

Patient turnaround times in emergency departments (EDs) are receiving increasing attention by patients, medical staff, hospital administrators, payers, and regulatory agencies. A retrospective study of ED turnaround times by hospitals identified by Modern Healthcare as being in the top 100 hospitals in the United States was undertaken. Five different categories of hospitals were studied. The shortest turnaround times occurred in rural hospitals with less than 250 beds and the longest times were in major academic centers with more than 400 beds.