What is the Financial Impact of Losing 5 ED Patients Per Day?

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Hospitals stand to lose millions of dollars in revenue when patients leave the emergency department without being seen, according to a whitepaper from CEP America.

CEP America analysts estimate the revenue generated to the hospital from an ED outpatient visit is roughly $500 per patient. Hospital EDs with an annual volume of 50,000 patients stand to lose $1 million in outpatient revenue for every 5.5 patients lost per day and $2 million in outpatient revenue for every 10.9 patients lost per day.


The lost revenue could stretch even further, as lost ED patients also means lost inpatient revenue. "At a 15 percent hospital admission rate from your ED and an inpatient collection rate average of $10,000 per hospitalization for your inpatients, the additional revenue garnered in this scenario approaches an additional $4 million," the authors wrote.

Because lost revenue could stretch to $5 million or higher, CEP America recommended three strategies for hospitals to reduce their patients who "left without being seen":

1. Decrease time to provider by running a staffing analysis.

2. Expand the ED virtually with triage and "fast track" lanes.

3. Focus on the patient experience.

More Articles on CEP America:

9 Hospitals That Partnered With CEP America in the Past Year

5 Steps to Alleviate ED Overcrowding

4 Steps to Select an ED Information System

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