Eight states tied for having the lowest rates of patients who left hospital emergency departments without being seen, at 1%, CMS data showed.
CMS’ Timely and Effective Care dataset, updated Aug. 6, tracks the percentage of patients who left an ED before being seen between January and December 2023. The measures apply to children and adults treated at hospitals paid under the inpatient or the outpatient prospective payment systems, as well as hospitals that voluntarily report data on relevant measures for Medicare, Medicare-managed care and non-Medicare patients. Averages include data for Department of Veterans Affairs and Defense Department hospitals. Read the methodology here.
The national average showed 2% of patients left EDs before being seen in 2023. This is returning to prepandemic levels, after the rate went up to 3% in 2022.
Here are the states and the District of Columbia by the percentage of patients who left before being seen, listed from lowest to highest:
1%
Colorado
Florida
Idaho
Nebraska
Nevada
South Dakota
Utah
Wyoming
2%
Alaska
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Georgia
Hawaii
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Montana
New Jersey
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Vermont
Wisconsin
West Virginia
3%
Alabama
Arizona
Iowa
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
North Carolina
North Dakota
New Hampshire
New Mexico
New York
Ohio
South Carolina
Washington
4%
Illinois
Maryland
Missouri
Mississippi
Oregon
5%
Delaware
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
6%
District of Columbia
