Transfers out of California EDs took a median 398 minutes, 111 more than nationally
Median minutes from ED arrival to departure, October 2024 to September 2025, by group of patients (CMS measures OP-18a to OP-18d). National against California
Show the numbers as a table
| Category | National | California |
|---|---|---|
| Patients sent home | 162 min | 174 min |
| All patients not admitted | 168 min | 180 min |
| Psychiatric or mental health patients | 257 min | 260 min |
| Patients transferred to another facility | 287 min | 398 min |
About the data
- Sources
- CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - State (July 2026 release) (opens in a new tab)Measure OP_18b and OP_18b by volume, each state
- CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - National (July 2026 release) (opens in a new tab)Measures OP_18a to OP_18d and OP_18b by volume
- Method
- CMS's state and national figures as printed. All four measures leave out patients admitted to the hospital. "Patients sent home" (OP-18b) also excludes transfers and psychiatric or mental health patients; "All patients not admitted" (OP-18a) includes them; OP-18c and OP-18d cover only those two groups.
- Published
Free to share and embed with credit to Kent Applied (CC BY 4.0). The source data keeps its own terms.
A fact from this chart
Sources for the figures above: CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - State (July 2026 release) (opens in a new tab); CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - National (July 2026 release) (opens in a new tab).
Related charts
- From research
California hospitals with longer ED times tended to have more patients leave unseen
CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - Hospital (July 2026 release) - From research
California's discharged ED patients: median 174 minutes; 11 states and DC were longer
CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - State (July 2026 release); CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - National (July 2026 release) - From research
California hospitals in a volume group: 74 to 413 minutes for patients sent home
CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - Hospital (July 2026 release) - From research
By ED size, California's times are near the national ones, except at the smallest EDs
CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - State (July 2026 release); CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - National (July 2026 release); CMS Provider Data Catalog, Timely and Effective Care - Hospital (July 2026 release)
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