Admissions from the ED Make Money

Chronic under-reimbursement for emergency care and limited hospital capacity conspire as the main drivers of emergency department overcrowding. ED patients who require admission compete for the few available beds with patients who are either scheduled for admission or directly transferred from another facility. Institutions are often asked to prioritize hospital beds and to either delay admissions and decline transfers or allow patients to board in the ED. Researchers retrospectively compared daily contribution margins (net revenue minus direct clinical expenses) at a single urban referral center for 51,213 patients who were admitted through the ED and 57,004 who were admitted directly to the hospital during fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 200…