Well, now…
From the “I wouldn’t have believed it, either” files comes this paper from the Annals of Emergency Medicine:
Study objective
We compare the contribution margin per case per hospital day of emergency department (ED) admissions with non-ED admissions in a single hospital, a 600-bed, academic, tertiary referral, Level I trauma center with an annual ED census of 100,000.
…
Conclusion
In summary, ED admissions in our institution generate a higher contribution margin per day than non-ED admissions.
Should make for friendlier conversations with your administrators.
I wonder if this was supposed to be published in the Journal of Irreproducible Results. On a more serious side, I think that the type of facility and its location play a large role. This is from a trauma center which is not the place where you would be admitted for an elective total knee or CABG.
Another study coming to the same conclusion:
Contribution of ED admission to inpatient hospital revenue
Sacchetti, A, Harris, RH, Warden, T, Roth, S
Am J Emer Med. 2002 Jan;20(1):30-1
A new study published in this month’s issue of Academic Medicine proves that effort does matter, and that learning is possible. Even established clinicians can be re-inspired to adopt new humanistic skills, becoming better teachers and role models in the process.