Emergency Department Operations II: Patient Flow

Emergency departments have always been busy, but persistent annual increases in volume and rates of admission have led to high levels of boarding patients, adding additional risk to the situation. This article reviews specific areas of risk as patients progress through their care in the emergency department and methods by which to mitigate this risk. Beginning with an overview of the current state, commonly used throughput metrics are reviewed before proceeding to a discussion of best practice strategies to decrease risk exposure at input, throughput, and output phases of the patient visit.