Improve the Workflow:
Develop Admission and Discharge Criteria
Eliminating delays in sending a patient from the emergency department (ED) to the next level of care requires that each department or area coordinate with one another. Each must see itself as part of the same overall system. A potential barrier to moving patients from one point of care to another is the availability of beds in the receiving unit. When medical staff move patients from the ED to the intensive care unit (ICU) and/or telemetry beds, one way to ensure that a bed is available in these units is to establish and review regularly their discharge criteria. Availability of beds on the receiving unit can be increased by adhering to the agreed upon criteria, e.g., by not keeping patients in the ICU or telemetry longer than is necessary.
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