​​​To deliver high standards of safe, person-centered care, it is critical to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time. The Hospital Flow Professional Development Program allows you to take action now to address growing issues around patient flow — and realize the value across your organization. 

​Optimizing patient flow throughout the hospital is essential to ensuring safe, high-quality, patient-centered care. Providing timely access to appropriate care and optimizing hospital flow are both critical levers to increasing value for patients, clinicians, and health care systems. ​

Conversely, poorly managed hospital-wide patient flow has critical implications for both patients and providers. Delays in treatment and failing to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time puts patients at risk for potential harm and less than optimal care. It also increases the burden on clinicians and accelerates burnout.

Many recognize that diversions, long waits, and delays in the emergency department (ED) are a hospital-wide issue, not solely an ED issue. Waits are often the result of ED beds being occupied by patients waiting for admission to the hospital. Lack of inpatient capacity also results in patients being “boarded” in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and often managed on “off service” units.

Yet, while many understand the problem, they don’t often have the strategies needed to address hospital-wide patient flow.

Addressing Flow Issues in Your Setting

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) understands both the vexing problems and the effective solutions needed to make substantial improvement in patient flow throughout the hospital. This five-day professional development program guides teams through an in-depth examination of high-leverage strategies to improve hospital flow. 

Working closely with expert faculty and hospital leaders who have achieved exemplary patient flow outcomes, participants develop or refine customized action plans to address their own organizations' unique opportunities for improvement. ​​​​​​​​​