A Google Maps–Based Method to Create a National Emergency Department Database

Hospital mergers, closures, and rebranding in the United States make it difficult to maintain an accurate national list of emergency departments (EDs). 1 Without a public registry, researchers must rely on private sources such as the National Emergency Department Inventory (NEDI), which is comprehensive but pay-walled, or inconsistent state-level lists. 2 , 3 This absence of a unified, up-to-date database increases the risk of biased sampling, particularly for rural, community, and lower-volume EDs. 4