Variation in emergency department wait times for children by race/ethnicity and payment source.
OBJECTIVE
To quantify the variation in emergency department (ED) wait times by patient race/ethnicity and payment source, and to divide the overall association into between- and within-hospital components.


METHODS
2005 and 2006 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys.


METHODS
Linear regression was used to analyze the independent associations between race/ethnicity, payment source, and ED wait times in a pooled cross-sectional design. A hybrid fixed effects specification was used to measure the between- and within-hospital components.


METHODS
Data were limited to children under 16 years presenting at EDs.


RESULTS
Unadjusted and adjusted ED wait times were significantly longer for non-Hispanic black and Hispanic children than for non-Hispanic white children. Children in EDs with higher shares of non-Hispanic black and Hispanic children waited longer. Moreover, Hispanic children waited 10.4 percent longer than non-Hispanic white children when treated at the same hospital. ED wait times for children did not vary significantly by payment source.


CONCLUSIONS
There are sizable racial/ethnic differences in children's ED wait times that can be attributed to both the racial/ethnic mix of children in EDs and to differential treatment by race/ethnicity inside the ED.
Park
Christine Y
CY
Division of Health Policy and Administration, Yale University School of Public Health, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
Lee
Mary Alice
MA
Epstein
Andrew J
AJ
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000145:classification*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D044469:Racial Groups; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D014850:Waiting Lists