ABSTRACT
The hospital emergency department (ED) is the place that Americans turn to first when they have an illness or injury that demands immediate attention.1 EDs are seeing a growing number of patients without medical insurance and insured patients whose physicians are unavailable during off-peak hours.1 As the “front door” to the hospital, the ED also has the first and, perhaps, most critical opportunity to influence both patient perception of care and clinical quality. The challenge of meeting these demands is compounded by the rapidly growing number of patients visiting EDs each year.2 The decision by emergency department leaders at BHCS to outsource ED staffing and management to a single entity in the 1970s was a pivotal step in the evolution of the ED Service Line. This partnership has enabled rapid deployment of best practices, established care guidelines, and quality improvement processes in keeping with BHCS’s mission of providing STEEEP care.
