Patient Flow Management Solutions are Helping Hospitals to Provide Efficient Treatment to Greater number of Patients
Healthcare
organizations require effective management of inpatient and outpatient
departments. It is essential to efficiently manage this flow, in order to
ensure smooth functioning of the organization. Patient flow management
solutions are one such application that enables hospitals and healthcare
organizations to effectively improve the patient flow, quality of care,
resource optimization & utilization, and also reduce operational cost. In
hospitals, it has become extremely crucial to avoid overcrowding in emergency
departments also inefficient scheduling in surgical departments.
Inadequate
management of patient flow can result in adverse health outcomes, which
includes increased mortality rates and readmissions. As a matter of fact, the
issue of overcrowding remains prevalent even if hospitals are expanding their
facilities or hiring additional staff to keep up with increasing patient flow.
If there is poor orchestration of patient admissions, discharges, and
transfers, it could lead to multiple issues. Generally, the issue with patient
flow arises in the emergency department (ED). The overcrowding in the emergency
department can lead to longer queues in admission, delayed discharges,
ambulance diversions to other hospitals, and patients leaving without being
seen.
Patient
flow management solutions offer certain strategies to handle and improve
patient flow. One of the first things that need to be done is to establish an
emergency department fast-track process, which will be integrated with tests,
triage, and treatment protocols. This will streamline patient handoffs. There
should be a selective surgical schedule to help relieve strain on
post-operative departments. Another step that can be taken is to improve the
rate of morning discharges of patients, which gives more time for patients to
fill prescriptions and opens up beds for incoming patients. Various countries
across the globe including Germany, Mexico, and Singapore have witnessed high
adoption of patient flow management solutions in multiple hospitals. Singapore
General Hospital (SGH) has automated its patient flow system for bed
management, bed turnover, and patient flow processes.
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