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ED's paradigm shift cuts costs, improves quality
Where:
The emergency department of Parkview Memorial Hospital, a 519-bed, VHA-affiliated acute care facility in Ft. Wayne, IN.
Problem:
The need to shorten waiting time, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce costs while maximizing the potential of a $9 million renovation. Also, the need to address emergent and urgent care with different processes and operations.
Solutions:
Through benchmarking, staff initiated bedside registration on laptop computers; cross-trained and restructured to drastically reduce overtime and salary expenses while adding FTEs; and provided tools for training physicians and nurses to handle patients.
Results:
Wait time to see a doctor has declined by two-thirds. Cost per visit has dropped 12%, saving the department more than $422,000 in 1996. Satisfaction scores have almost doubled to 86%.