Patient flow management in biological events: a scoping review

Biological Events affect large populations depending on transmission potential and propagation. A recent example of a biological event spreading globally is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had severe effects on the economy, society, and even politics,in addition to its broad occurrence and fatalities. The aim of this scoping review was to look into patient flow management techniques and approaches used globally in biological incidents.

The current investigation was conducted based on PRISMA-ScR: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. All articles released until March 31, 2023, about research question were examined, regardless of the year of publication. The authors searched in databases including Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Google scholar search engine, Grey Literature and did hand searching. Papers with lack of the required information and all non-English language publications including those with only English abstracts were excluded. Data extraction checklist has been developed Based on the consensus of authors.the content of the papers based on data extraction, analyzed using content analysis.

A total of 19,231 articles were retrieved in this study and after screening, 36 articles were eventually entered for final analysis. Eighty-four subcategories were identified,To facilitate more precise analysis and understanding, factors were categorised into seven categories: patient flow simulation models, risk communication management, integrated ICT system establishment, collaborative interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach, systematic patient management, promotion of health information technology models, modification of triage strategies, and optimal resource and capacity management.

Patient flow management during biological Events plays a crucial role in maintaining the performance of the healthcare system. When public health-threatening biological incidents occur, due to the high number of patients, it is essential to implement a holistic,and integrated approach from rapid identification to treatment and discharge of patients.