The District of Columbia has the highest rate of patients who left hospital emergency departments without being seen at 6%, CMS data showed.
CMS’ “Timely and Effective Care” dataset, updated April 30, tracks the percentage of patients who left an ED before being seen in 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. Learn more about 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:
Colorado — 1%
Florida — 1%
Idaho — 1%
Nebraska — 1%
Nevada — 1%
South Dakota — 1%
Utah — 1%
Wyoming — 1%
Alaska — 2%
Arkansas — 2%
California — 2%
Connecticut — 2%
Georgia — 2%
Hawaii — 2%
Indiana — 2%
Kansas — 2%
Kentucky — 2%
Louisiana — 2%
Montana — 2%
New Jersey — 2%
Oklahoma — 2%
Pennsylvania — 2%
Tennessee — 2%
Texas — 2%
Virginia — 2%
Vermont — 2%
Wisconsin — 2%
West Virginia — 2%
Alabama — 3%
Arizona — 3%
Iowa — 3%
Maine — 3%
Michigan — 3%
Minnesota — 3%
North Carolina — 3%
North Dakota — 3%
New Hampshire — 3%
New Mexico — 3%
New York — 3%
Ohio — 3%
South Carolina — 3%
Washington — 3%
Illinois — 4%
Maryland — 4%
Missouri — 4%
Mississippi — 4%
Oregon — 4%
Delaware — 5%
Massachusetts — 5%
Rhode Island — 5%
District of Columbia — 6%