Right care, right time, right place, every time.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Hospital Operations
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Inefficient patient flow can limit hospital capacity and hinder resource utilization.
• Variations in patient flow processes often lead to decreased quality of care and patient satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve patient flow processes within a hospital setting.
• To increase hospital capacity and optimize resource utilization.
• To enhance the quality of care and patient satisfaction through process redesign.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a pilot project focused on redesigning patient flow at Intermountain Medical Center.
• Focused on optimizing patient placement and care coordination strategies.
• Aimed to remove variation from patient flow processes and foster collaboration.

Main Results:

• Successfully created 21 virtual beds, increasing overall capacity.
• Achieved a reduced severity-adjusted average length of stay for patients.
• Observed enhanced patient satisfaction and improved bed turn-around time.

Conclusions:

• Redesigning patient flow is an effective strategy for increasing hospital capacity.
• Optimizing patient placement and care coordination significantly improves operational efficiency.
• Improvements in patient flow lead to better resource utilization, patient satisfaction, and quality of care.