title: Could your ED meet a 15-minute service pledge?
abstract: Patients dissatisfied with long waits is one of the most pressing problems that emergency department (ED) managers must address, and there is a trend of EDs offering service guarantees to patients to obtain higher satisfaction scores. At participating EDs, patients are offered letters of apology, movie passes, or a free visit if the guarantee isn't met. Census increased dramatically after the guarantee programs were implemented. To ensure the guarantees are met, additional nursing staff or ED beds may need to be added.
mesh_terms: D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017748:Time Management; D014218:Triage; D014481:United States; D014850:Waiting Lists