Nationwide, 3 percent of patients left emergency departments before being seen in 2021, up from 2 percent in 2020 and 2019, CMS data shows.
The agency's "Timely and Effective Care" dataset, updated Nov. 8, tracks the percentage of patients who left the ED before being seen in 2021. The measures apply to children and adults treated at hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System or the Outpatient Prospective Payment System, as well as hospitals that voluntarily report data on relevant measures for Medicare patients, Medicare managed care patients and non-Medicare patients.
Averages include data for Veterans Health Administration and Department of Defense hospitals. Learn more about the methodology here.
Here are states ranked by the percentage of patients who left hospital EDs before being seen, listed from lowest to highest.
Hawaii — 1 percent
Idaho — 1 percent
Nevada — 1 percent
South Dakota — 1 percent
Utah — 1 percent
Alaska — 2 percent
California — 2 percent
Colorado — 2 percent
Connecticut — 2 percent
Florida — 2 percent
Indiana — 2 percent
Montana — 2 percent
Nebraska — 2 percent
Puerto Rico — 2 percent
Texas — 2 percent
Wisconsin — 2 percent
Wyoming — 2 percent
Alabama — 3 percent
Arkansas — 3 percent
District of Columbia — 3 percent
Georgia — 3 percent
Iowa — 3 percent
Kansas — 3 percent
Kentucky — 3 percent
Louisiana — 3 percent
Maine — 3 percent
Minnesota — 3 percent
North Dakota — 3 percent
New Hampshire — 3 percent
New Jersey — 3 percent
New York — 3 percent
Ohio — 3 percent
Oklahoma — 3 percent
Pennsylvania — 3 percent
South Carolina — 3 percent
Tennessee — 3 percent
Virginia — 3 percent
Vermont — 3 percent
West Virginia — 3 percent
Arizona — 4 percent
Illinois — 4 percent
Michigan — 4 percent
Missouri — 4 percent
Mississippi — 4 percent
North Carolina — 4 percent
Oregon — 4 percent
Washington — 4 percent
Massachusetts — 5 percent
Maryland — 5 percent
New Mexico — 5 percent
Rhode Island — 5 percent
Delaware — 6 percent