> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.coios.me/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Longer stays tracked higher death and longer waits lower, a triage artefact
- URL: https://www.coios.me/longer-stays-tracked-higher-death-and-longer-waits-lower-a/
- Published: 2026-09-23T12:40:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T21:35:12.000Z
- Description: A retrospective analysis of 593,673 emergency presentations at a New Zealand hospital between 2016 and 2024 found longer departmental stays associated with worse outcomes and longer waiting times associated with better ones, reflecting triage order rather than any effect of waiting.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Healthcare today, Capacity, funding and care, New Zealand, #peer-reviewed, #refines, #item, #source-2026-09

Researchers modelled mortality after emergency department presentation using 593,673 de-identified records from a tertiary hospital in the Waikato region of New Zealand between 2016 and 2024, combining generalised linear models with regularised logistic regression. Age, clinical complexity and longer stays in the department were associated with worse outcomes, while longer waiting times were associated with better ones, which the authors attribute to the sickest patients being seen first. The resulting score reached an area under the curve of 0.95 for death in the department and 0.90 at 28 days.

*Why it is interesting: It shows plainly why raw waiting-time and mortality correlations in emergency care invert once triage order is in the data.*

Source

[Journal of Medical Systems, 23 September 2026](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-026-02420-2?ref=coios.me)

DOI

10.1007/s10916-026-02420-2

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Retrospective analysis of 593,673 emergency department presentations at one tertiary hospital, Waikato, New Zealand, 2016-2024; GLM plus regularised logistic regression

Verdict

Refines prior evidence

Driver

[Capacity, funding and care](https://www.coios.me/d-capacity-funding/)