Impact of Emergency Department-to-ICU Transfer Times on Mortality Across Critical Care Diagnoses: Insights from a Dutch Cohort Study

Highlight

• The association between ED-to-ICU transfer time and hospital mortality varies significantly across ICU admission diagnoses and hospital types.
• In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients, prolonged ED-to-ICU transfer time correlates with increased mortality in academic hospitals but a paradoxical reduction in mortality in nonacademic teaching hospitals.
• No significant mortality association was found between transfer time and other diagnoses such as overdose, sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, or intracranial hemorrhage.
• Findings underline the need for prospective studies focusing on diagnosis-specific pathways and hospital processes to optimize ED-to-ICU transfer times.

Study Background