Team-based Pod System Reduces Lengths of Stay for Treat-and-Release Patients

To boost performance on a range of metrics, the 55-bed ED at NYU Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, transitioned to a pod system in August 2016. The approach, which is designed to foster team-based care, involves assigning physicians and nurses to designated geographic areas throughout the day, minimizing the movement of physicians as well as the need for phone communication. When coupled with other changes, including the introduction of point-of- care testing, the pod initiative has enabled the ED to reduce lengths of stay for all treat-and-release patients to less than three hours for the first time in the history of the department, according to administrators. There were multiple challenges involved with the transition to a pod system, including the need to match physician schedules with patient volume, but clinicians note the approach has produced improved physician-nurse communications. Administrators credit the creation of a process improvement team with giving frontline staff a voice in planned improvements while also facilitating the change process.