The study by UC San Francisco, Stanford University and UCLA researchers measured hospital overcrowding in 202 California facilities by analyzing ambulance diversion rates, or how often ambulances are turned away from an emergency department. They found that hospitals that serve large minority populations were more likely to divert ambulances to other hospitals.
These findings “are a matter of concern given that ambulance diversion has been associated with poorer health outcomes,” the study said.
Ambulance diversion is sometimes used when an emergency room has become so crowded that it is deemed dangerous to admit additional patients, and the study authors used the practice as an indicator of overcrowding.
