Eleven 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 May 13, tracks the percentage of patients who left an ED before being seen between January and December 2024. 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 2024 — the same level as it was in 2023.
Compared to 2023 data, more states have reduced their left without being seen rate. In 2023, eight states had a 1% left without being seen rate, compared to 11 states in 2024. In 2023, three states had a rate of 5% and five states had a 4% rate, compared to one state and two states in 2024. The District of Columbia still leads the nation with the highest rate at 6%.
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%
Alaska
Colorado
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Nebraska
Nevada
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Wyoming
2%
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Georgia
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Minnesota
Montana
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
3%
Illinois
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oregon
Tennessee
Vermont
Washington
4%
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
5%
Delaware
6%
District of Columbia
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