ED Management – March 1, 2008
March 1, 2008
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Study: Wait times continue to lengthen — Visits increase as EDs disappear
A new study published online by the journal Health Affairs had some sobering, though perhaps not surprising, news for ED managers. Between 1997 and 2004, waits increased 36% (from 22 to 30 minutes, on average) for the more than 90,000 ED patients whose records the researchers reviewed. -
Consultant, more staff lead to ED turnaround
One year ago, the waiting room situation in the ED at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, NC, was "a sinking ship," according to John Reid, MD, chairman of emergency services. -
Emergency department divided into teams, zones
New receiving processes, a new team structure, and zone divisions in the ED at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, NC, have enabled the hospital to cut triage time in half, according to Linda K. Dietterich, RN, MS, CEN, CAN, service line director for the ED. -
Streamlined process cuts time to triage in half
The time-to-triage in the two very busy EDs in the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta system has been cut in half in less than a year through a process improvement initiative that eliminated several steps in the initial assessment. -
Mobile unit helps ED cut LWBS in half
The ED at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson, WV, has reduced its rate of patients who leave without being seen (LWBS) by 50% with the addition of a mobile unit located immediately outside the main department. -
Process improvement helps PCP relations
A new process for handlings calls from primary care physicians not only has improved ED communications at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, OH, but it also has boosted relations with family physicians in the community thanks in no small part to a 30-minute guarantee offered for those doctors' patients. -
'ED of the future' girded for disasters
In 1999, "ER One," a high-tech ED designed for optimal response to mass casualty events, was just a gleam in the eye of Mark Smith, MD, FACEP, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Washington (DC) Hospital Center. -
Association publishes pandemic flu guide
The New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) has published the first installment of Planning today for a pandemic tomorrow, a guide that hospitals can use to develop or assess a pandemic flu response plan. The guide includes the following topics: