Optimizing Patient Flow Essay

Definition:

Patient flow is a progressive movement of patient, equipment and information through a sequence of processes, while maintaining quality, safety, empathy and personal attention in patient care . This term usually denotes the flow of patient between the various service points to create the pathway of care seamless .

When to use it?

Patient flow is usually used to improve efficiency and patient care and evaluating waiting time. Optimizing patient flow is one of a series of innovative programs that has been developed to help organisation improve the care they give to patients.

By optimizing patient flow, it improves treatment costs, and improves patient satisfaction with care and reduces staff overload, overtime and turnover rates.

In order to improve the flow, healthcare organisation will need to understand the variations in the particular department and uncover the bottleneck. One of the first steps necessary for understanding flow is to accept that flow depends on the inherent variation found in the healthcare delivery system . Mapping the whole patient journey enables the management to look for opportunities for improvement by visualising how the whole patient journey currently works and identifying areas of improvement. It is a tool that identifies the areas and steps required for improvement within the department by using the other tools of lean manufacturing.

There are different approaches to mapping patient journeys in the department. A simple mapping tool that can be used for this project is the Spaghetti diagram . Spaghetti diagram is a tool that untangles a process flow. It provides a quick way to record and communicate current flows, and can be used to capture more than one flow on one diagram. An advantage of using the spaghetti diagram is, it helps to identify the cause of the problem where there is waste in the process.

It is also essential to look into the issue as a whole rather than

Most cases that comes in to the emergency departments varies; no one can predict heart attacks or even broken legs and at the same time having the right resources readily available . Hence the common sight at the emergency department; patients are being “parked” in hallways for hours waiting for a hospital bed or are turned away altogether and sent to another institution . Confronted with an excess cases, or waiting list, and delays for patients, staff have no alternatives but to start prioritising the queue.

Patient flow in the emergency department should be designed and operated to minimize waits as patient’s transition from department to department and distinguish and resolve the framework level bottlenecks that hinder the stream of patients.

Potential the group see

Managing improvements project can be challenging. This is because the healthcare system are complex and there are many interaction but the effectiveness of patient journey is essential than the individual team’s efficiency. It is an outline approach of how to look things at the bigger picture. These goals will solely be achieved through effective coordination and communication, combined with constant attention to patient service. All staff in the department must be committed and cooperative with efficiency efforts.

The best approach to improve patient flow is to optimize resources, have clear