Why is this measure important?

When patients enter the emergency department, sometimes they must wait before meeting with a healthcare provider. Reducing the time patients spend in the Emergency Department before seeing a healthcare provider can help provide faster access to care.  

What does this measure show?

This measure shows the median number of minutes Emergency Department patients wait before they are seen by a healthcare provider.  

Definition of median: This is the half-way point in the data. One-half of patients spent less than this time, and one-half spent longer.  

For this measure, a lower number is better.