States with highest, lowest ED ‘left without being seen’ rates

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