On May 9, 2024, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act No. 24-4, “An Act Concerning Emergency Department Crowding,” (The Act). The Act requires all Connecticut hospitals with an emergency department to, no later than January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter until January 1, 2029, analyze certain data with the goals of:
- Developing policies to reduce emergency department and admission wait times.
- Developing methods to improve admission efficiencies.
- Examining causes for delays in admission times.
Hospitals with emergency departments must on their own, or in consultation with a hospital association in the state, review the following emergency department data points from the preceding calendar year in formulating these goals:
- The number of patients who received treatment in the emergency department.
- The number of emergency department patients who were admitted to the hospital.
- The average length of time from the patient’s first presentation to the emergency department until the patient’s admission to the hospital (for those who were admitted).
- The percentage of patients who were admitted to the hospital after presenting to the emergency department but were transferred to an available bed located in a physical location other than the emergency department more than four hours after an admitting order for the patient was completed.
The Act also requires hospitals to submit a report to the joint standing committee for public health of the General Assembly no later than March 1, 2025, and annually thereafter until March 1, 2029. The report must include the hospital’s findings and any recommendations for achieving the above referenced goals. The Act is effective from passage.