P019: Understanding patient perceptions of emergency department wait time publication: a mixed-methods needs assessment

Abstract

Introduction: Many emergency departments (EDs) have begun publishing wait times. This study seeks to develop an understanding of patients’ needs with respect to publishing ED wait times, which, to our knowledge, has not been described in the literature. Methods: We conducted a two-stage mixed methods study at a dual campus tertiary care academic center. First, we held focus group discussions comprising of 7 patient advocacy hospital committee members. Themes generated from focus group discussions were then utilized to create a patient survey. Focus groups were analyzed using content theme analysis. Hospital sites for survey administration were randomized and pre-assigned shifts were established to ensure a balance of weekdays, weekends, days, evenings, and overnights. All adult patients (age >18) in the waiting room were eligible, but excluded if they were directly referred to a specialty service or did not speak French or English. Survey data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: We found 9 dominant focus group themes: definition of wait time, wait time posting, lack of communication, education in waiting room, patient expectations, utilization of the ED, patient behavior, physical comfort, and patient empowerment. Of the 240 patient questionnaires administered, 81.3% (195) wanted to know ED wait times before arrival to hospital and 90.8% (217) wanted ED wait times posted in the ED waiting room. The most popular choice for publishing wait times outside the ED was a website (46.7%) whereas, within the ED, patients were not particular about the specific display modality as long as times were displayed (39.6%). Overall, 76.7% (184) stated their satisfaction with the ED would be improved if wait times were posted. Conclusion: ED patients we surveyed strongly supported both the idea of having access to wait time information prior to arrival, as well as physical display of wait times in the waiting room.