Rural-urban differences in emergency department wait times.

INTRODUCTION I sought to determine whether emergency department (ED) volume is associated with differing ED wait times. METHODS I conducted a retrospective analysis of the Emergency Department Reporting System database of the Ontario Ministry of Health. I abstracted ED length of stay for patient visits to 117 hospital EDs during the second quarter of 2008, representing 89% of ED visits in the province during that period. Annual volume of ED visits, lengths of stay in the ED and acuity levels of patients were measured. RESULTS All EDs were more efficient in managing the treatment of low-acuity patients compared with high-acuity patients. Small rural EDs in Ontario had the shortest wait times for both high- and low-acuity patients (medians 2.35 h for high-acuity and 1.46 h for low-acuity patients in small rural EDs v. 4.98 h for high-acuity and 2.85 h for low-acuity patients in teaching hospitals). CONCLUSION Among the hospitals studied, rural EDs had the shortest wait times for both low- and high-acuity patients.