Improving Flow
Definition
Median time in hours from the decision to admit a patient from the ED to the physical placement of the patient in an inpatient bed.
Goal
Rapid movement from the Emergency Department (ED) after a decision to admit the patient is critical for entry to the entire system for emergent patient care. It represents the ability of the system to handle unscheduled admissions.
The goal is to decrease the time from the decision to admit a patient from the Emergency Department to the physical placement of the patient in an inpatient bed to one hour or less for all patients within 12 months.
Data Collection Plan
Collect data weekly for 25 patients using one of the following sampling plans:
Sample five patients per day for five days of the week. Patients must be consecutive and at least one day must be a weekend day.
OR Sample 25 consecutive patients regardless of any specific day, except that the sample must include some weekend admissions.
OR
If there are fewer than 25 admissions for a week, include all of the admissions in the sample.
