Feasibility of a Wait Time Display in the Emergency Department

Background: Emergency Departments (EDs) are often overcrowded, leading to long wait times and patient frustration.A lack of communication about wait times can increase anxiety and reduce satisfaction.Real-time wait time displays-either in waiting rooms or online-may improve communication and the overall patient experience.This quality improvement (QI) project assessed the perceived benefits of implementing such displays in the ED.Methods: A review of ED-based studies published in PubMed between 2015 and 2025 that reported patient-or staff-centered outcomes found that wait time communication influences patient satisfaction, perceived wait times, and staff workflow.These findings informed the design of a cross-sectional survey for this QI project.At a single urban academic hospital, ED staff (nurses, physicians, patient care associates (PCAs), nurse leaders) reflected on perceived benefits of wait time communication.Responses were summarized using descriptive analysis.Results: Feedback was collected from 36 ED staff (28 RNs, 4 PCAs, 1 physician, 2 nurse leaders, 1 other).Seventy-three percent agreed that displaying estimated wait times would improve patient understanding and satisfaction, and 91% felt patients lack a clear understanding of Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage levels.Additionally, 73% believe implementing wait time displays would enhance the overall patient experience, and 75% value displaying wait times on the hospital or ED website.Two-thirds (66%) support a color-coded "traffic light" model for communicating wait times.Seventy-five percent believe wait time displays would positively impact staff experience, and 70% anticipate improvements in patient experience scores. Conclusion:ED staff perceived real-time wait time displays as feasible to implement and identified potential benefits.This includes improved communication, patient satisfaction, and staff experience.Pilot testing and evaluation are recommended.