Nashville General Hospital (NGH), Middle Tennessee’s public hospital serving Nashville and Davidson County, announces ‘No-Wait ER’. The program was developed to help curb long ER wait times. Doing away with the traditional waiting room model, patients are immediately assessed by a triage team, who swiftly prioritizes care based on the severity of the condition. This innovative approach redefines the patient’s experience.

he average wait time for emergency room visits in the U.S. is two hours and 25 minutes. Some states see wait times as long as four hours, according to reports.

But the average door-to-bed and door-to-doctor wait times at NGH’s Emergency Department were 25 and 34 minutes respectively. As of last week, those same times were four and five minutes, respectively. Processing is faster and ‘patient navigators’ serve as a voice for patients. Regardless of your socioeconomic status, no one wants to spend excessive amounts of time waiting on care in an ER.

Since the program launched in April, the No Wait ER program has Salready produced impressive results. NGH’s length of stay for low-acuity patients decreased by 36%, going from a high of 140 minutes to less than 90 minutes on average. Patient satisfaction has significantly increased in metrics including nurses’ attention to a patient’s need, staff working together and showing care for patients, and doctor communication. Patient comments regarding the speed of check-in and how quickly they were brought to an exam room also significantly increased. NGH has also seen a positive increase in overall rating of care.

“Overall, reducing ER wait times aligns with NGH’s goals of providing high-quality, timely care to all patients while maximizing operational efficiency,” said Dr. Joseph Webb, CEO of NGH. “Everyone benefits from shorter wait times in the ER.

For more than a century, Nashville General Hospital has been a cornerstone of exceptional, compassionate healthcare for the Nashville community. Committed to making comprehensive health services accessible to all, NGH prides itself on welcoming and treating everyone with equal care and respect. The hospital’s dedicated professionals strive daily to uphold the values of integrity, accountability, and accessibility, fostering trust and well-being in every patient interaction. As we look ahead to the next hundred years, NGH remains dedicated to nurturing both health and hope for all.