ER Inspector ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTERERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER

ER Inspector

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Updated September 19, 2019

This database was last updated in September 2019. It should only be used as a historical snapshot.Researchers can find more recent data on timely and effective care in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ hospitals datasets and guidance about hospital regulations.

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ER Inspector » New York » ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER

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ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER

462 grider street, buffalo, N.Y. 14215

(716) 898-3936

70% of Patients Would "Definitely Recommend" this Hospital
(N.Y. Avg: 66%)

2 violations related to ER care since 2015

Hospital Type

Acute Care Hospitals

Hospital Owner

Voluntary non-profit - Private

ER Volume

High (40K - 60K patients a year)

See this hospital's CMS profile page or inspection reports.

Patient Pathways Through This ER

After a patient arrives at the emergency room, they are typically seen by a doctor or medical practitioner and then either sent home or admitted to the hospital and taken to a room. A small percentage of patients leave without being seen. The chart below shows on average how long each of these pathways take. Lower numbers are better, and all times refer to the average length of time people waited.

Arrives at ER
5% of patients leave without being seen
6hrs 54min Admitted to hospital
9hrs 12min Taken to room
3hrs 39min Sent home

All wait times are average.

Detailed Quality Measures

Here is a more in depth look at each quality measure, compared to state and national averages for hospitals with high ER volumes. Experts caution that very small differences between hospitals for a given measure are unlikely to correspond to noticeable differences in the real world.

Measure
Average for this Hospital
How this Hospital Compares

(to other hospitals with similar
ER volumes, when available)

Discharged Patients
Time Until Sent Home

Average time patients spent in the emergency room before being sent home (if not admitted).

3hrs 39min
National Avg.
2hrs 42min
N.Y. Avg.
3hrs 4min
This Hospital
3hrs 39min
Impatient Patients
Left Without
Being Seen

Percentage of patients who left the emergency room without being seen by a doctor or medical practitioner.

5%
Avg. U.S. Hospital
2%
Avg. N.Y. Hospital
2%
This Hospital
5%
Admitted Patients
Time Before Admission

Average time patients spent in the emergency room before being admitted to the hospital.

6hrs 54min

Data submitted were based on a sample of cases/patients.

National Avg.
5hrs 4min
N.Y. Avg.
6hrs 31min
This Hospital
6hrs 54min
Admitted Patients
Transfer Time

Among patients admitted, additional time they spent waiting before being taken to their room (sometimes referred to as "boarding time.")

2hrs 18min

Data submitted were based on a sample of cases/patients.

National Avg.
2hrs 2min
N.Y. Avg.
3hrs
This Hospital
2hrs 18min
Special Patients
CT Scan

Percentage of patients who arrived with stroke symptoms and did not receive brain scan results within 45 mins.

No Data Available

The number of cases/patients is too few to report.

National Avg.
27%
N.Y. Avg.
26%
This Hospital
No Data Available

Violations Related to ER Care

Problems found in emergency rooms at this hospital since 2015, as identified during the investigation of a complaint. About This Data →

Violation
Full Text
EMERGENCY SERVICES

Apr 29, 2015

Based on medical record review, review of video surveillance, interview, and policy and procedure review, the hospital does not meet the emergency needs of patients in accordance with acceptable standards of practice related to continual observation of patients at risk for danger to self and/or others.

See More ↓

Based on medical record review, review of video surveillance, interview, and policy and procedure review, the hospital does not meet the emergency needs of patients in accordance with acceptable standards of practice related to continual observation of patients at risk for danger to self and/or others. Refer to findings under Tags #A0144 and A1104.

See Less ↑
EMERGENCY SERVICES POLICIES

Apr 29, 2015

Based on policy and procedure review and interview, the facility failed to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) are promptly identified, and that patients presenting at high risk for danger to self and/or others are placed under continuous observation. Findings include: Review of policy "Emergency Department Triage Policy #ED-010" (revised 10/4/13) revealed: "VI.

See More ↓

Based on policy and procedure review and interview, the facility failed to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) are promptly identified, and that patients presenting at high risk for danger to self and/or others are placed under continuous observation. Findings include: Review of policy "Emergency Department Triage Policy #ED-010" (revised 10/4/13) revealed: "VI. Special considerations: (G) All patients that are considered high risk for and a danger to self and/or others (actual or suspected) shall be triaged as emergent (level 2) and placed in a treatment room and/or escorted to CPEP with staff and/or ECMC police or other law enforcement agencies, with prior notifications made to CPEP if safety permits." During interview on 4/28/15 at 8:45 AM, Chief Safety Officer Staff #1 stated that at the time of Patient #1's ED visit on 4/22/15, the facility practice was that the ED triage registered nurse would place patients in triage room #1 or the room across from triage while awaiting the arrival of CPEP (Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program) personnel. Staff #1 stated that patients awaiting CPEP transfer were not under constant supervision. Staff #1 additionally stated that the facility was now considering options for future access control of the ED to immediately identify persons entering the ED as being patients or visitors.

See Less ↑
Notes

“Average time” refers to the median wait time (the midpoint of all patients' wait times). References to “doctor or medical practitioner” indicate a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician's assistant. CMS reports the CT scan quality measure as the percentage of patients who received a scan within 45 minutes. We have reversed that measure so that all measures follow a “lower is better” pattern.

Additional design and development by Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei.

Sources

All data comes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Detailed quality measures at the hospital, state and national level were last updated September 2019. Most data was collected between October 2017 and October 2018. Data on ER-related violations is from January 2015 to June 2019.

Additional Info

How We've Updated ER Inspector | Download ProPublica's Emergency Room Planning Toolkit | About This Data

Don’t See Your ER?

In some cases we aren’t able to identify the exact location of a hospital, so it doesn’t appear on our mapped search results. However, it may still be in our database – try looking for it in the list of hospitals on each state's page.

In other cases, the hospital is missing from our database because it doesn't have an emergency department.

In other cases, the hospital is missing from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data. There are a couple of reasons why a hospital isn’t included in CMS data: it may not participate in Medicare, or it may share a certification number with another hospital (common across large hospital systems).

If you notice a hospital missing from our database, please first check if you can find it on CMS' website, and that it is listed as having an ER. If so, please email us with the hospital name and address.