Clinical integration bolsters communication and collaboration between departments and across a facility’s clinical services lines. This is particularly important in high-volume referral centers with a diverse patient mix. TeamHealth partners with a level-one trauma facility in South Florida for emergency medicine, hospital medicine, anesthesiology services and OB/GYN hospitalist coverage. Their designation as a comprehensive stroke facility, referral center for complex obstetrical care and trauma status for both adult and pediatric care means they must maintain a high level of care and patient satisfaction.
Benefits of Integrated Care:
- Better communication
- Improved throughput metrics
- Increased patient satisfaction
- Standardized protocols
Integrated Emergency and Hospitalist Care
The high-volume facility has an admission rate of 25-30% with a closed admission procedure. Roughly 75% of those admissions are through the in-house hospitalist team, the first step to ensuring high-quality care in this space. And the integrated care between the emergency department (ED) and hospital medicine teams is vital.
The benefits of integration between these departments are numerous, but enhanced and open communication may be the most valuable. Reaching the right person for admission can be a pain point for many non-integrated departments, but one phone call gets directly to the correct contact for a smooth admission process at the facility. This has strengthened throughput and improved patient satisfaction, as patients enjoy a seamless admission process. Multidisciplinary rounding with the teams also bolsters operational and clinical performance and standardizes procedures.
Integrated Specialty Care
The integration across specialty care is also a cornerstone of the partnership. The hospitalist, emergency, anesthesiology and OB/GYN teams meet regularly as a group and individually with hospital leadership. Hospital medicine and anesthesiology work together seamlessly for patients requiring surgery. As with the ED and inpatient departments, one phone call reaches the correct contact to coordinate care for admitted surgical patients.
The in-house OB/GYN hospitalist coverage means 24/7 care for emergent obstetrical needs, a critical need at this referral facility with a level III NICU. The hospitalist team and OB/GYN hospitalist teams regularly provide consultations for patients with standard protocols for those over or under 20 weeks. In addition, the ED sees a high volume of pregnant patients, so communication and education are key. The two departments have partnered on hypertension protocols and care pathways, as the population includes a high percentage of hypertensive patients, and they have worked similarly on pre-eclampsia procedures. While the OB/GYN conducts their triage, they collaborate with the ED on the best pathway for patients moving from the ED to different care levels.
Integrated Leadership
In addition to the integration across service lines, the teams are also integrated into the facility. The emergency and hospitalist leaders chair vital committees in the hospital and sit on many more. They have also partnered with other leaders to enhance procedures around pulmonary embolism protocols, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) protocols, sepsis protocols and many more projects. The streamlining of these procedures is possible because of the leadership’s integration within the facility and its Medical Executive Committee.
Best-in-Market Performance
The results of the partnership are particularly impressive given the high patient volume, as the facility outperforms hospitals with only half their annual volume. The facility has market-leading ED admit throughput times in all measured parameters, highlighting the strong emergency and hospitalist collaboration, including a benchmark-surpassing average median admit (doctor to disposition) time of 148 minutes.
Reducing Barriers and Improving Care
TeamHealth and the facility share a mutually beneficial partnership that meets the goal of providing high-quality patient care. Our teams reduce barriers to improving care and ensure hospital administration can count on our acute coverage. We customize our approach based on the facility and community needs, ensuring that any service we provide helps elevate care delivery. When we’re able to integrate care across multiple service lines, the benefits are clear. To learn more about partnering with us, please get in touch with our team.