Joint Commission beefs up rules to improve patient flow

Abstract Introduction COVID-19 has dictated a shift towards virtual clinics. Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust serves over a million patients with a significant number of face-to-face fracture clinics. Introduction of a Virtual Fracture Clinic (VFC) reduces hospital return rates and improves patient experience. The referral data can be used to give immediate monthly feedback to the referring department to further improving patient flow. Method Prospective data was collected for all referrals to VFC during March 2020. Data included referral diagnosis, actual diagnosis, referrers grade, and final outcome. Results 630 referrals were made to VFC. 347 (55%) of those referrals were directly discharged without the need for physical consultation. Of these 114 (32%) were injuries which can be discharged by the Emergency Department with an advice leaflet using existing pathways. Of the remaining discharges 102 (29%) were query fractures or sprains; and 135 (39%) were minor fractures; which needed only advice via a letter and no face to face follow up. Conclusions Implementation of VFC leads to a decrease in physical appointments by 55% saving 347 face to face appointments. The new system has also facilitated effective audit of referrals in order to further improve patient flow from the Emergency Department via feedback mechanisms and education.

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Managing intergroup silos to improve patient flow

Health Care Management Review ◽

10.1097/hmr.0000000000000310 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽

Author(s):

Sara A. Kreindler ◽

Stephanie Hastings ◽

Sara Mallinson ◽

Meaghan Brierley ◽

Arden Birney ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Patient Flow ◽

Improve Patient

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Do automatic push notifications improve patient flow in the emergency department? analysis of an ED in a large medical center in Israel

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0258169 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. e0258169

Author(s):

Daniel Trotzky ◽

Liron Posner ◽

Jonathan Mosery ◽

Aya Cohen ◽

Shiran Avisar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Medical Center ◽

Patient Flow ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Control Group ◽

Minimal Impact ◽

Notification System ◽

Patient Morbidity ◽

Improve Patient

Introduction Congestion in emergency departments [ED] is a significant challenge worldwide. Any delay in the timely and immediate medical care provided in the ED can affect patient morbidity and mortality. Our research analyzed the use of an innovative platform to improve patient navigation in the ED, as well as provide updated information about their care. Our hope is that this can improve ED efficiency and improve overall patient care. Objective The primary objective of our study was to determine whether the use of an automatic push notification system can shorten ‘length of stay’ (LOS) in the ED, improve patient flow, and decrease ED patient load. Methods This was a prospective cohort study utilizing data extrapolated from the electronic medical records of 2972 patients who visited the walk-in ED of a large-scale central hospital in Israel from January 17, 2021 to March 15, 2021. During this period, the automatic push text notification system was activated on a week-on week-off basis. We compared data from our experimental group with the control group. Results The results of this study indicate that the use of an automatic push notification system had a minimal impact on specific parameters of ED patient flow. Apart from a few significant reductions of specific timed-intervals during patients’ ED visit, the majority of results were not statistically significant. Conclusion This study concluded that the anticipated benefits of a push text notification system in the ED do not, at this stage, justify the system’s additional cost. We recommend a follow-up study to further investigate other possible benefits.

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Using Simulation to Design and Improve an Outpatient Procedure Center

Management Engineering for Effective Healthcare Delivery ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-872-9.ch010 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 216-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Todd R. Huschka ◽

Thomas R. Rohleder ◽

Brian T. Denton

Keyword(s):

Patient Flow ◽

Discrete Event ◽

Pain Clinic ◽

Outpatient Procedure ◽

Event Simulation ◽

Simulation Process ◽

Recovery Times ◽

Patient Waiting Time ◽

Healthcare Processes ◽

Improve Patient

Discrete-event simulation (DES) is an effective tool to for analyzing and improving healthcare processes. In this chapter we discuss the use of simulation to improve patient flow at an outpatient procedure center (OPC) at Mayo Clinic. The OPC addressed is the Pain Clinic, which was faced with high patient volumes in a new, untested facility. Simulation was particularly useful due to the uncertain patient procedure and recovery times. We discuss the simulation process and show how it helped reduce patient waiting time while ensuring the clinic could meet its target patient volumes.

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Patient flow from emergency department to inpatient psychiatric unit – a narrative review

Australasian Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/1039856220936629 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 103985622093662

Author(s):

Subramanian Purushothaman

Keyword(s):

Psychiatric Patient ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Patient Flow ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Complex Issue ◽

Future Studies ◽

Broad Array ◽

Improve Patient ◽

Inpatient Psychiatric Unit ◽

Improve Access

Objective: To review the literature on common issues impacting psychiatric patient flow in emergency departments (EDs) and to explore evidence-based solutions proposed to improve patient flow. Methods: The review was divided into three parts and a broad array of keywords were chosen to achieve greater depth in the review. Administrative data and organisational publications were included along with peer-reviewed articles in various databases. Results: Psychiatric patients have increased ED length of stay (EDLOS) and the proportion of psychiatric presentations in ED has increased significantly.1 Several factors contributed to increased EDLOS. Introduction of psychiatric short stay units,2 improving patient flow3 and appropriate increase in beds were identified as some of the possible solutions to improve patient flow. Conclusion: Psychiatric patient flow in ED is a complex issue and needs a coordinated approach to improve access. Future studies should focus on understanding the effectiveness of some of the proposed strategies.

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