title: The effect of boarders on emergency department process flow.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emergency department (ED) overcrowding with boarders and waiting times are a significant concern in many countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aim to show the relationship between boarders in the ED and the percentage time to disposition in under 6 h for our ED patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A review was carried out to show the percentage of patients presenting to the ED compliant with a 6-h standard per day compared to the number of attendances, the number of admissions to the hospital, and the number of boarders in the ED per day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over the 2-year study period, there was an average 0.37% fall in the ED's rate of compliance per day, with a 6-h standard for each boarder in the ED.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Boarding patients in the ED has a negative effect on compliance with our 6-h standard of time to disposition.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Department, University of Limerick Hospital, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Eoin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fogarty
authors.affiliation: Statistical Consulting Unit/CSTAR @ UL, Faculty of Education & Health Sciences (SCU affiliated to Department of Maths & Statistics), University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Limerick Hospital, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Fergal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cummins
mesh_terms: D003441:Crowding; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009660:Northern Ireland; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: overcrowding; process flow