How to Improve Patient Flow & Throughput in California
Efficient patient flow and throughput in hospitals is necessary for effective patient care. It is necessary to have procedures for efficient patient discharge and admission in place so that newly admitted patients can be provided with care quickly. In addition, state patient policies need to be taken into account when assigning patients to nurses. The state of California requires a ratio of one nurse to two patients in the intensive care unit.
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Instructions
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Determine all the sources of patient flow at your facility. As an example, you can include in-patient, surgical, out-patient, ICU and ER flows.
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2
Identify all the communication interfaces for each patient flow source identified in Step 1. As an example, efficient in-patient flow requires effective communication between patients, front-desk employees, nurses and doctors.
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Review current communication practices and identify areas where communication can be streamlined. If patients are typically standing in long lines at the front desk because each person needs to fill out a form and turn it in, then one source of added time-savings can be to hand the forms to patients to fill out as they are waiting in line. Another option could be to staff the front desk with more employees during peak patient-flow hours.
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Identify what the patient's needs will be after leaving the hospital. Create communication strategies that will support the patients during that time and eliminate the need for the patient to return to the hospital repeatedly.
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Create a task force that can take the ideas for streamlining communication into the implementation stage. Create timelines and goals and hold regular status meetings to report on progress and any roadblocks.
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References
- Photo Credit patient image by JASON WINTER from Fotolia.com
