Before 2007, outpatients scheduled for interventional radiology procedures at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center (Nashua, NH) were prepped and recovered in an inpatient room. With an expansion of the radiology department, a 4-bay observation unit with a minor procedure room was added. Afterwards, when the volume of certain targeted interventional procedures did not grow as much as projected, the unit began to care for outpatients needing blood transfusions and patients scheduled for cardiac cath procedures. The unit is credited with these patients’ time spent at the hospital and with increasing the availability of inpatient beds.
Source: Dionne, D.T. Growing the range of services in a radiology observation unit. Radiology Management;35(3):34-38, May/June 2013. Click here for the publisher’s website: http://www.ahraonline.org/am/custom/rm_search.aspx Posted by AHA Resource Center (312) 422-2003, rc@aha.org
Filed under: Ambulatory care, Ambulatory care facilities, Efficiency, Imaging, Posted by Kim Garber |
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