Improving Timeliness of Pediatric Emergency Department Admissions

The goal of this quality improvement project was to improve timing, communication, and continued care for pediatric patients who present to the emergency department at a Level I pediatric trauma center and require inpatient admission.

Using continuous improvement methodology, a patient flow process was created to improve the throughput of pediatric patients requiring inpatient admission from the emergency department, aimed at decreasing the time from decision to admit to actual admission. The new workflow included ED and inpatient nursing collaboration, with nursing leaders coordinating patient transfer.

Baseline data indicated that, in 2019, patients admitted to a short-stay pediatric unit from the emergency department had an average time of 106.8 minutes from decision to admit to the actual admission. After the implementation of a new admission process, time from decision to admit to actual admission decreased from a mean of 106.8 minutes to 82.84 minutes for patients admitted to a short-stay unit. This illustrates an improvement from 59.75% to 68.75% of patients admitted within 60 minutes from ED admission to arrival on a short-stay unit. This model was then replicated throughout other units in the hospital.

There are no known benchmark data to guide practice for rapid admission from the pediatric emergency department to inpatient units and continuing care. This quality improvement project demonstrates a model that has been successful admitting patients in an efficient, time-controlled manner. Additional research is needed to document benchmarks for admission timing and to demonstrate other measurable outcomes in patient care.