The following describes emergency room (ER) variables presented in findERnow that are collected through annual National Emergency Department Inventory (NEDI)-USA surveys.
Annual Total ER Volume:
- Annual number of ER visits from the most recently available year.
- % of annual ER visits by children from the most recently available year.
The raw number of child visits is obtained through the NEDI-USA survey and then is calculated from the total annual number of ER visits.
The most recent total annual visit volumes and child visit volumes are from the 2020 NEDI-USA survey. In instances where ERs did not respond to the 2020 survey, the 2019 NEDI-USA values are instead reported. In instances where there are no visit volumes reported (e.g., ER recently opened and has not yet completed a NEDI-USA survey) or the visit volumes were most recently reported in a year earlier than 2019, the total annual or child visit volumes are presented as “Not Available”.
In instances where a reported visit volume (total or child) has increased by >50% from the previous year or has decreased by >30% from the previous year, EMNet contacts the ER to investigate the reported change (e.g., to find out if the large increase in visit volume is due to a recent ER expansion or consolidation).
Separate pediatric area in ER:
These separate pediatric areas include any area for children only in the ER. Pediatric areas vary and might include a waiting room or treatment area for children only. Stand-alone children’s hospitals (e.g., Boston Children’s Hospital) have ERs that focus on children; their entire ER is a dedicated area for children.
The most recently available pediatric area information is from 2020 NEDI-USA survey. In instances where the ER did not report the status of a pediatric area in 2020, the value for 2019 is reported.
Has Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinator(s):
A pediatric emergency care coordinator (PECC) is a physician, nurse, or other professional (e.g., PA, administrator) who manages pediatric care in the ER and helps to educate staff on emergency care for children.
The most recently available PECC information is reported. Because PECC status can be dynamic, the status from 2020 NEDI-USA only is displayed, except for instances where we have been notified that the ER’s PECC status has changed since 2020. In those instances, the more recent PECC data is displayed. ERs who most recently reported their PECC status in 2019 have this displayed as “Not available”.
Whenever an ER’s PECC status changes (either from “yes” to “no” or from “no” to “yes”), EMNet contacts the ER to confirm the date that the PECC position started/ended. If applicable, we also collect the PECC’s name to validate any possible change, but PECCs’ names are kept strictly confidential.
In 2006, the Institute of Medicine recommended that every U.S. ER identifies both physician and nurse PECCs to improve pediatric emergency care. We hope that, by making the PECC data publicly available, findERnow will help parents to improve their children’s emergency care, and will motivate many ERs to improve their pediatric emergency care preparedness.