Worsening of emergency department length of stay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

ObjectiveOur study sought to determine whether there was a change in emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic compared to prior years.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis using ED performance data 2018–2020 from 56 EDs across the United States. We used a generalized estimating equation (GEE) model to assess differences in ED LOS for admitted (LOS‐A) and discharged (LOS‐D) patients during the COVID‐19 pandemic period compared to prior years.ResultsGEE modeling showed that LOS‐A and LOS‐D were significantly higher during the COVID‐19 period compared to the pre‐COVID‐19 period. LOS‐A during the COVID‐19 period was 10.3% higher compared to the pre‐COVID‐19 time period, which represents a higher geometric mean of 28 minutes. LOS‐D during the COVID‐19 period was 2.8% higher compared to the pre‐COVID‐19 time period, which represents a higher geometric mean of 2 minutes.ConclusionsED LOS‐A and LOS‐D were significantly higher in the COVID‐19 period compared to the pre‐COVID‐19 period despite a lower volume of patients in the COVID‐19 period.