Letter/Communication
Reframing ED Boarding Through a Human Factors Sociotechnical Systems Lens
Journal of patient safety, v 22(5)
10 Apr 2026
PMID: 41960648
Abstract
Emergency department (ED) boarding, defined as holding admitted patients in the ED while awaiting an inpatient bed or transfer, is a persistent problem associated with longer lengths of stay, treatment delays, reduced care quality, and increased in-hospital mortality. Although interventions such as fast-track protocols, EHR tools, and policy mandates seek to reduce boarding, they often target isolated issues and yield inconsistent results due to limited integration and cross- departmental coordination. Thus, ED boarding must be viewed not merely as an operational ED issue but as a hospital-wide throughput challenge shaped by multiple sociotechnical factors affecting patient safety. [1st paragraph]
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Details
- Title
- Reframing ED Boarding Through a Human Factors Sociotechnical Systems Lens
- Creators
- Woosuk Seo - Yale UniversityRaj M. Ratwani - MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors, Washington, DC, Department of Emergency Medicine Georgetown University School of Medicine Washington, DCJesse M. Pines - Drexel University, Emergency MedicineEdward R. Melnick - Yale University
- Publication Details
- Journal of patient safety, v 22(5)
- Publisher
- LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
- Number of pages
- 2
- Resource Type
- Letter/Communication
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Emergency Medicine
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001854604800011
- Other Identifier
- 991022180003104721