Failing to achieve hospital-wide patient flow — the right care, in the right place, at the right time — puts patients at risk for suboptimal care and potential harm. It also increases the burden on clinicians and hospital staff and can accelerate burnout. Yet, while many understand the problem, they often lack the comprehensive strategies to address it.

Achieving hospital-wide patient flow, and ultimately improving outcomes and the experience of care for patients, requires an appreciation of the hospital as an interconnected, interdependent system of care. This, importantly, includes flow of patients within the hospital — between units and departments — as well as locations outside the hospital, impacting the flow of patients both into and out of the hospital.

  IHI WHITE PAPER

​Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow

This white paper guides health care leaders and quality improvement teams through an in-depth examination of a system-wide view of patient flow within (and outside) the hospital, including high-leverage strategies and interventions to achieve hospital-wide patient flow.

Download the white paper