Putting together a multidisciplinary team from the hospital’s key bottleneck areas was one of the first steps that Shawnee Mission Medical Center in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, took to improve patient flow. The team tested and implemented changes to improve throughput, including faxing reports between units, improving compliance with bed tracking, and scheduling discharge appointments. A Throughput Scorecard is used to measure effects of changes implemented on operations.
“The addition of a bed manager position and enhancing the utilization of our electronic bed management system have been key factors for us,” says Sheri Hawkins, RN, Chief Nursing Officer. “It’s critical to keep an eye on the big picture.”
Other improvements have included opening a Short Stay Unit to relieve pressure on the Progressive Care Unit, and having dedicated charge nurses on each unit take responsibility for monitoring patient flow. “The new charge nurse roles enable them to meet together regularly, sharing the results of their common metrics. It’s important that we constantly evaluate current performance, to avoid simply moving the bottleneck from one place to another,” says Tricia Stevenson, Administrative Director of Quality Management. Results include shorter length of stay in the Emergency Department, shorter turnover time for surgical suites, and shorter “hold” times for patients in the Post-Anesthesia Unit and operating rooms.
02/05/2007
