Who Is Leaving Without Being Seen?

Patients who have left previously, younger patients, those covered by Medicaid, and those with no insurance are most likely.

The effect of emergency department overcrowding on ambulance diversion has received much attention, yet less has been focused on another consequence of overcrowding: patients who leave before being seen. To identify patient characteristics associated with uncompleted visits, researchers conducted a case-control study of 1476 patients older than 18 years who left without being seen after presenting to a large inner-city ED. Patients were pair-matched by triage acuity level and time and date of registration.

During the 6-month study period, the overall rate of leaving without being seen was 6.4%. Patient characteristics associated with an increased rate of leaving without being seen were younger age (odds ratio, 1.39 for patients aged 18–24 ye…

Reviewing Author

Richard D. Zane, MD, FAAEM