Emergency Rooms under pressure | |
The study of ERs found that the time patients wait for services has increased with the increase in numbers. For patients with heart attack symptoms the increased wait time could mean death or further disability. Even the 8 minutes wait time in 1997 is too long. Chief author of the study was Dr. Andrew Wilper of Harvard Medical School in the January 15, 2008, online issue of Health Affairs. He describes the situation in ERs as a "perfect storm" of increasing demand while 12% closed during the period of the study in that set of ERs. See Andy Grove's view of the emergency in emergency rooms in Wired magazine.
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