Update: Patient Flow In Healthcare Systems
Everything that happens to a patient from the moment they enter the hospital until they are discharged is critical to their healing and overall health. The best way to ensure that their experience is as positive as possible is to ensure quality patient care and flow. This means that their transition between departments, nurses and doctors is as seamless and stress free as possible.
What is Patient Flow?
A patient walks into the doors of a hospital and is admitted, from there, everything that happens from one step to the next is patient flow also known as patient throughput. The movement of a patient through the system involves the beginning stages of the discharge. The concern with this? A slow and disruptive patient flow is stressful for patients and healthcare professionals. A system that causes several disruptions and confusion during the process can affect a healthcare system’s reputation, patient satisfaction and bottom line.
The best thing for healthcare facilities to implement is moving towards a quick, safe and efficient patient flow plan to provide healthcare professionals and patients a successful plan during their stay.
Ways to Implement Patient Flow
Healthcare facilities are finding out the less optimized and efficient patient throughput means a decrease in quality patient care and impacts both the patients and healthcare professionals.
These are the best methods to start implementing the best system:
Adding Value
In the world of healthcare, there are three “D’s” for physicians: deciding, documenting and doctoring. These three D’s need to add value to the system in place. If a physician is spending more time documenting and spending less time researching and helping patients, quality patient care will decline. The best thing to do is to implement a system that allows for easier documentation and involves streamline systems like LEAN practices.
Streamline Systems
A streamline system will help healthcare professionals easily access and move from one station, computer and patient with minimal disruptions for both the healthcare professional and patient. A solution for streamlining a system is adding a nurse server cabinet in each patient room. FlowCARE Nurse Server is a decentralized nurse server that provides everyday items, medication, linens and more all to be stored securely inside each patient’s room. Stop healthcare professionals from hunting and gathering their items and disrupting streamlines in the healthcare facilities with the right nurse server cabinets.
Schedules
In the healthcare system, surgeries are often scheduled all on Monday and Tuesday leaving little to no time for anything else that day. Scheduling is one of the key factors to keep a streamline patient flow. One hospital oversees 11,000 patients with 40 different primary care physicians. How does that scheduling work? With the right system in place for scheduling and healthcare IT.
Fewer Patient Disruptions
Scheduling, patient throughput, lack of sleep, a disruption in their schedule and more all are common causes of patient disruption. If a patient has to change their schedule around for an appointment, it’s a disruption. If the patient has to stay longer than expected, it’s a disruption. A way to help with patient disruption is streamline systems, LEAN practices and the best scheduling system in place.
All of these options above are basic ways to improve the patient flow for healthcare facilities. It could be as simple as changing documentation systems with telemedicine practices or installing nurse server cabinets in each patient room.
FlowCARE Nurse Server is a patent-pending nurse server designed for healthcare professionals. For more information, on this nurse server or our other storage solutions, contact us today!
