Match Capacity and Demand:
Institute a Fast Track in the Emergency Department
Patients who are cared for in a hospital’s emergency department (ED) vary in the complexity and seriousness of their conditions. Rather than having the same process for all types of patients, create a separate process for patients with less serious conditions who can be treated more quickly and then released. ED staff identify charts for these patients through the care process as quickly as possible, while at the same time balancing the need to treat the critically ill or injured patients (often, a physician is able to treat one or two patients while waiting for the test results on more complex, or more seriously ill, patients). The ED Fast Track can also allows organizations to maximize resource use as mid-level providers such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants can care for less seriously ill patients.
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