IBM Watson Health shared Dr. Dave Holson's, director of the ED at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens, perspective on how to improve operations in the ever growing Emergency Department.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on IBM Watson's website.
Health systems need to be flexible and respond quickly to the various challenges in health system operations, especially the emergency department. Health systems also need to adopt a system that empowers the front-line staff to make needed improvements quickly.
When viewed as a long-term strategy for change, Continuous Improvement with the Simpler Business System can help lead to true transformation. NYC Health + Hospitals/Queensfocused on a major transformation in the Emergency Department (ED) starting in 2015 to improve operational and clinical performance.
Dr. Dave Holson, director of the ED at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens shared his perspective on the value of continuous improvement in a rapidly expanding ED. Highlights from that conversation have been edited lightly for length and clarity:
WH: Describe your community and some of the challenges your ED was facing.
Dr. Dave Holson: We serve the very diverse community of Queens, with more than 130 languages spoken here. I’ve been here 16 years and the ED had a volume of about 60,000 annual visits when I started. The borough has seen significant closures over the last 15 years, and that has resulted in tremendous growth in terms of the volume that we are seeing. We now see 100,000 patients per year. Our ambulance runs went from fewer than a thousand to now 2,500 per month. Click here to continue>>
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