Boarded in the ED: A Look at Mortality and Morbidity

Host: Shira Johnson, MD Guest: Shan Liu, MD Patients that come into an emergency room sometimes have to wait hours even days before they are moved to a hospital floor. A new study says more than a quarter of patients who are "boarded" in the ER after being admitted to the hospital often suffer undesirable events like missing necessary treatments or medications. Dr. Shan Liu, an attending physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, joins Dr. Shira Johnson to discuss her study on this growing worldwide issue.