Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Mount Vista, Wash., is working to streamline emergency department care in response to growing patient volumes, according to a report in The Columbian.
The hospital saw nearly 74,000 people pass through its ED during the 2017 fiscal year.
"We approached this with the idea that we have to increase our flow, maintain safety and quality but work with what we've got," said Bill Shawler, MD, a Legacy Salmon Creek emergency department physician.
This spring, Legacy Salmon Creek implemented a physician-in-triage process and immediately saw improvements. Patients are still checked into the ED and triaged by a nurse, but patients are now in front of a physician right away, Dr. Shawler said.
Having the physician involved early on can help to move patients with lower-level needs through the ED quicker and get sicker patients admitted to the hospital sooner, Dr. Shawler added.