Utilizing a Pediatric Emergency Preparedness Toolkit

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Implemented use of the "Care of Children in the Emergency Department: Guidelines for Preparedness Implementation" toolkit to improve the quality of care provided to children 

 Treating Patients More Quickly with RACE

The RACE project introduced a standardized process by which each participating hospital designates a reperfusion and triage strategy for STEMI patients to decrease door-to-balloon times for percutaneous coronary intervention. 

Decreasing Emergency Department (ED) Throughput Time by Using a Discharge Resource Room

Approximately 60 percent of all medical/surgical patients are now discharged from the DRR. The new procedure, which provides an inpatient bed more rapidly, has had a significant effect on decreasing ED throughput time. 

 Improving Patient Satisfaction in the Emergency Department (ED) with a Call Back Clerk

Staff developed a dedicated position, the Call Back Clerk, and a user-friendly database to conduct individual patient follow-up calls after discharge from the ED. 

Emergency Department Nurse Recruitment and Retention

A team was assembled to develop an initiative to improve nurse recruitment and retention, including internal and external recruitment strategies, comprehensive training, and a mentoring program for new ED nurses. The goal of this intervention was to improve nurse. 

 Reducing Emergency Department Crowding Through the Full Capacity Protocol

Stony Brook University Hospital implemented a Full Capacity Protocol policy, a system wide policy to better utilize space and staff throughout the hospital rather than allowing admitted patients to accumulate in the ED when the inpatient units lack appropriate beds. 

Improving Emergency Department (ED) Flow With a Care Management Unit (CMU)

Staff created a seven-bed Care Management Unit with four dedicated nurses and four dedicated case managers to reduce the number of boarders. 

Reducing Turnaround Time for Fast Track Emergency Department (ED) Patients

The Fast Track service allows patients with acute but non-life-threatening conditions to be treated more quickly and then released. This system is designed to improve the efficiency and decrease the waiting time in the ED when the greatest numbers of people seek. 

A No-Tech Solution for Reducing Hospital Bed Turnaround Time

Staff developed a simple communication system between housekeeping and nurses by using jars with color-coded slips of paper that allowed staff to easily track beds that were available or that needed cleaning. The goal of this intervention was to improve patient flow by. 

Shifting Nurse Schedules to Match ED Demand

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif. matched the nursing staff schedule with patient volume and increased nurse retention. 

Shifting Surgery Schedules to Reduce Patient Bed Bottlenecks

Staff at Boston Medical Center implemented a new vascular surgery schedule that placed a limit on the number of daily elective surgeries. 

 Reducing Turnaround Time for Fast Track Emergency Department (ED) Patients

The Fast Track service allows patients with acute but non-life-threatening conditions to be treated more quickly and then released. This system is designed to improve the efficiency and decrease the waiting time in the ED when the greatest numbers of people seek. 

Improving Emergency Department (ED) Throughput by Registering Patients by Acuity

Working to address throughput issues in the busy and frequently overcrowded ED at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, a team implemented a registration system in which patients are first triaged and then assigned a color code based on acuity.