MESSAGE FROM QUINT
Improve flow for higher patient satisfaction, loyalty, and growth.Recently, I was reviewing emergency department data for a number of our client partner hospitals that showed a clear correlation: As ED patient satisfaction rises, so does inpatient satisfaction. As Stephanie Baker, Dr. Jensen and Dr. Mayer explain in our cover story, "Hardwiring Flow in the Emergency Department," the ED in an average hospital accounts for 50 percent of admissions.
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Hardwire Flow in the Emergency Department
By Stephanie J. Baker, RN, CEN, MBA Kirk Jensen, MD, MBA, FACEP and Thom Mayer MD, FACEP, FAAP
It’s a fact: The emergency department is the major point of entry for the largest number of patients arriving to your hospital. Typically, the ED accounts for 50 percent of inpatient admissions, 75 percent of plain radiographs, and 50 percent of CT scans and ultrasounds in the entire hospital. Plus, as the "front door" to the hospital, the ED not only drives flow, but it drives the patient's perception of flow.
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Get Dramatic Gains in ED Patient Satisfaction…
Leader and Hourly Rounding Drive Gains
from the 6th to 99th Percentile
with ED Medical Director Dr. Paul Andrulonis and ED Director Donna Sparks at Baptist Miami Hospital, Miami, FL
"Back in 2006, our patient satisfaction was chronically in the single digits and our Left Without Being Seen
rate was in the double digits," explains Donna Sparks, Director of the Emergency Department at Baptist
Miami Hospital in Miami, FL (80,000 annual adult ED visits). Since then, the ED team has created a patientcentric
environment that has increased patient satisfaction from the sixth to the 99th percentile nationwide.
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Increase Volumes…
AIDET and Bedside Report Build Patient Loyalty
with CNO Kate Cronin, ED Medical Director Dr. Harneet Sethi, and Nursing Director Cheryl Pinney, Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene Emergency Department, Keene, NH
In early 2005, Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene Emergency Department (an ED with 28,400 annual visits in Keene, NH) was ranked in the 10th percentile for patient satisfaction with almost three percent of ED patients leaving without being seen (LWOBS).
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Validate Quality…
7 Tips for Post-Visit Phone Calls that Get Results
with COO Art Gladstone, ED Medical Director Dr. William Lee, and ED Nursing Director Sally Kamai at Straub Clinic and Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii
Effective post-visit phone calls provide an opportunity to check clinical quality, harvest reward and recognition, and identify trends or areas of improvement through first-hand feedback from patients.
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CEO Secrets:
Top Tips for Improving ED Performance
Wondering how senior leaders can effectively drive change in the ED? Here, Rick Lassiter, CAO at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, TN and Janet Wagner, CEO at Sutter Davis Hospital in Davis, CA share their perspectives.
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Reduce Left Without Seen Patients…
Use Super Track
with CNO Janice McKinley and ED Director Darrell Brackett, Parkwest Medical Center, Knoxville, TN
With new minute clinics popping up all over, Parkwest Medical Center (with 45,000 ED visits annually) in Knoxville, TN saw a general rise in the acuity of its ED patients as lower acuity patients were siphoned off. Newly motivated to address length of stay issues with that market segment, the ED resolved to serve them faster. The result? A 50 percent reduction in Left Without Being Seen patients for an additional $230,000 in annualized revenue over the three month pilot in Q4 2009. (A sidenote: Since 1996 when the Parkwest ED won the “Toilet Bowl” award for being in the 5th percentile for patient satisfaction, it’s raised it to all the way to the 82nd percentile.)
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Nurse Leader Q&A:
Overcoming Barriers to Excellence in the ED
Learn from the experts. Kate Cronin, MS, RN CNO at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene in Keene, NH and Donna Sparks, MSN, RN Director, Emergency Services at Baptist Miami Hospital, Miami FL tell you what it takes to excel in the ED.
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Cut Wait Times for Front-End Improvements in Flow…
Teamwork Drives Process Improvement
with CEO Janet Wagner, VP Medical Affairs Dr. Virginia Joyce, and ED Director of Nursing Tammy Needham, Sutter Davis Hospital, Davis, CA
Teamwork Drives Process Improvement
"It’s hard to introduce new policies and procedures if you don’t have solid teamwork, culture and values," explains Janet Wagner, CEO of Sutter Davis Hospital in Davis, CA. "Our ED manager, Tammy Needham, created a culture of professionalism that provided the foundation for all our achievements in the ED."Read Full Article
Contributors
Stephanie Baker, RN, MBA, CEN is a coach, account leader and national speaker for Studer Group and author of Excellence in the Emergency Department: How to Get Results.
Kirk Jensen, MD, MBA, FCEP is medical director for several emergency departments, Chief Medical Officer for BestPractices, Inc., a Studer Group national speaker and co-author of Hardwiring Flow: Systems and Processes for Seamless Patient Care.
Julie Kennedy-Oehlert, RN is a coach and national speaker for Studer Group with 18 years of clinical experience as an emergency room trauma nurse and forensic nurse examiner. Six of Julie’s client partners have been awarded the Studer Group Fire Starter Award for sustained results in all pillars.
Thom Mayer, MD, FACEP, FAAP is founder and CEO of BestPractices, Inc., a Studer Group national speaker, and co-author for Hardwiring Flow: Systems and Processes for Seamless Patient Care
Christina Román brings more than 20 years experience writing on healthcare to her role as managing editor of Hardwired Results.