Patient Flow Enewsletter
Volume 1, Issue 8
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
In this Issue
:- Conference Materials: Perfecting Patient Flow: Proven Solutions to ED Crowding
- Best Practices: Creating an Award-Winning ED
- Now Available: 2005 and 2004 Conference Materials
- Innovations: Creating Non-block Scheduling to Increase Volume, Revenue, and Surgeon Satisfaction
- Site Interview: Bursting at the Seams: Success Factors for Improving Hospital Patient Flow
Conference Materials
Perfecting Patient Flow: Proven Solutions to ED Crowding
For individuals and organizations that were not able to attend the November 11-12, 2004 conference, all materials are now available to download. Materials include PowerPoint presentations, audio recordings and additional tools and templates provided by conference presenters.
Best Practices
Creating an Award-Winning ED
When Susan Key, RN, MS, CEN was hired as director of emergency services at Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach, Florida, she was only given one task: to make Cape Canaveral Hospital's emergency department (ED) one of the best in the country. Faced with soaring patient volume, significant overcrowding, low patient satisfaction, and low staff morale, this was no simple task. Left with little else, Key utilized her 18 years of experience, a patient-focused philosophy, and an extraordinary amount of drive and determination to accomplish the task.
Innovations
Creating Non-block Scheduling to Increase Volume, Revenue, and Surgeon Satisfaction
Like many facilities nationwide, Boston Medical Center (BMC) for years has used block scheduling as a way of matching surgeon demand with operating room supply. However, for BMC, this was resulting in a high rate of elective surgery cancellations, frustrated patients and lost revenues. John Chessare, MD, chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs at Boston Medical Center talks about their Urgent Matters work in reducing artificial variability in surgical scheduling as a way to increase throughput and reduce patient waits and delays.
Site Interview
Bursting at the Seams: Success Factors for Improving Hospital Patient Flow
Urgent Matters recently completed a year-long project designed to analyze and reduce emergency department crowding in 10 hospitals across America. A new report, Bursting at the Seams: Improving Patient Flow to Help America's Emergency Departments, identifies critical success factors for breakthrough results. Marcia Wilson, deputy director of the Urgent Matters program at The George Washington University, comments on the findings and what they may mean for America's health care safety net.
