The 300-bed hospital has approximately 80,000 ED visits annually. Initially, its ED throughput time for admitted patients was five hours and 58 minutes. To reduce this time, the hospital collected wait times and patient flow data through its electronic medical records. This information was shared with ED managers and medical directors daily in a report. Real-time data was also displayed to ED staff and patients via an electronic board.
The transparency of information motivated staff to improve throughput, which was reduced 102 minutes to four hours and 16 minutes.
More Articles on Patient Flow:
2 Recent Examples of Reducing ED Visits by Frequent Users
How St. Luke’s in Iowa Lowered Non-Emergency ED Visits by Two-Thirds
TeleTracking: Recording Milestones During Care Improves Patient Throughput
