Mercy Hospital (Springfield, MO), with an emergency department volume of over 90,000 visits annually, decided to work on improving patient throughput by creating the position of “ED flow facilitator,” or “bed wizard.” The responsibility of this new staff member is to coordinate patient flow with ED zone coordinators and to be in charge of ambulance calls. Within a short time after implementation of this change, the left-without-being-seen rate declined from 8 percent to the 3-to-5 percent range.
Source: ED flow facilitators make throughput center stage, achieve decreases in LWBS, LOS, and door-to-bed times. ED Management;24(8):103-105, Sept. 2012. Click here for publisher’s website: http://www.ahcmedia.com/public/products/ED-Management.html (posted by AHA Resource Center, (312) 422-2050, rc@aha.org
Filed under: Efficiency, Emergency department, Posted by Kim Garber | Tagged: Avoiding emergency department bottlenecks, ED throughput, Emergency department staff, Emergency department throughput |
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