Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Wash., reduced its emergency department throughput time 28.5 percent by sharing real-time data with staff, according to a report in Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's online library, "Promising Practices."
The 300-bed hospital has approximately 80,000 ED visits annually. Initially, its ED throughput time for admitted patients was five hours and 58 minutes. To reduce this time, the hospital collected wait times and patient flow data through its electronic medical records. This information was shared with ED managers and medical directors daily in a report. Real-time data was also displayed to ED staff and patients via an electronic board.
The transparency of information motivated staff to improve throughput, which was reduced 102 minutes to four hours and 16 minutes.
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The 300-bed hospital has approximately 80,000 ED visits annually. Initially, its ED throughput time for admitted patients was five hours and 58 minutes. To reduce this time, the hospital collected wait times and patient flow data through its electronic medical records. This information was shared with ED managers and medical directors daily in a report. Real-time data was also displayed to ED staff and patients via an electronic board.
The transparency of information motivated staff to improve throughput, which was reduced 102 minutes to four hours and 16 minutes.
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