Overview

Background

Urgent Matters, a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is dedicated to finding, developing and delivering strategies to improve patient flow and reduce emergency department (ED) crowding. Urgent Matters highlights patient flow best practices through its educational activities including: e-newsletters, web seminars, and regional conferences.

The Urgent Matters Story

Urgent Matters began as a ten-hospital collaborative Learning Network that provided breakthrough research on patient flow measurement and improvement. As part of the Learning Network, hospitals implemented rigorous performance measures, assessed current processes, and used techniques of rapid cycle change to improve ED throughput and output. Our hospitals found that overcrowding can in large part be addressed through better capacity and patient flow management with a highly structured approach using mainly existing resources.

Key lessons from the first Learning Network can be found in Bursting at the Seams: Improving Patient Flow.

Quality Improvement and Performance Measurement in the Emergency Department

Urgent Matters is now working with the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, on Learning Network II to push this work to the next level.

Six hospitals have been selected for Learning Network II with a focus on three goals:

1. Rigorously evaluate the implementation of strategies for improving patient flow and reducing ED crowding within the context of a hospital collaborative;
2. Advance the development of performance measurement in the ED;
3. Promote the spread of promising practices to a wider audience and variety of hospitals.

Urgent Matters is nationally recognized for: Sharing field-tested initiatives from healthcare experts nationwide Ensuring access to proven tools through our menu of educational activities Emergency department and inpatient strategies Partnering with industry leaders to create ED performance measures Building a "community of interest" dedicated to improving patient flow Helping you make a difference...today!

Learn More

For more information, sign-up for our free e-newsletter, which provides important tools while keeping you updated on the program. Also, download our reports on improving patient flow and assessing the health of the safety net. We can be reached at info@urgentmatters.org.