Patient Throughput

Summary

A hospital's ability to optimize capacity is largely determined by how efficiently their processes and operations are managed.

The ED is one entry point for care that is typically cited as an initial bottleneck in the overall system. In 2008, the Centers of Disease Control reported that the average time that patients wait to see a doctor in hospital emergency rooms had grown from about 38 minutes to almost an hour between 1996 and 2006; ED visits increased from 90 million in 1996 to 119 million in 2006. The result is that many EDs are either at or above capacity. Actions to address this generally fall into two categories—increasing capacity and increasing efficiency. Increasing capacity can facilitate the acceptance of more patients. However, it does not address the issue of moving patients through the system in an efficient manner.

In a 2003 report on ED crowding, the U.S. General Accounting Office noted the connection between the ED and the rest of the hospital system: “The factor most commonly associated with crowding was the inability to transfer emergency patients to inpatient beds once a decision had been made to admit them as hospital patients rather than to treat and release them.

With a better understanding of potential weaknesses in the patient care continuum, organizations can shape, predict and manage variability and allocate resources appropriately. More effective and efficient processes will improve patient outcomes, increase staff morale and retention and reduce costs.