Reduced Time to Admit Emergency Department Patients to Inpatient Beds Using Outflow Barrier Analysis and Process Improvement.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Because admitted emergency department (ED) patients waiting for an inpatient bed contribute to dangerous ED crowding, we conducted a patient flow investigation to discover and solve outflow delays. After solution implementation, we measured whether the time admitted ED patients waited to leave the ED was reduced.

Methods

In June 2022, a team using Lean Healthcare methodologies identified flow delays and underlying barriers in a Midwest, mid-sized hospital. We calculated barriers' magnitudes of burden by the frequency of involvement in delays. During October-December 2022, solutions targeting barriers were implemented. In October 2023, we tested whether waiting time, defined as daily median time in minutes from admission disposition to departure (ADtoD), declined by

SUBMITTER: Erdmann MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11418872 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature