Hospitalists seek tools for more efficient admissions

Moving patients safely and efficiently through the admission process is always a priority for hospitalists. Is there a way to optimize and standardize the process?

“In hopes of improving admission efficiency, while simultaneously increasing quality of care, we decided to use Lean/Six Sigma methodology to streamline our admission process,” says Escher Howard-Williams, MD, lead author of an abstract called “Standardizing the Admission Process Using Lean/Six Sigma One Piece Flow.”¹

A basic tenet of the methodology is called “one piece flow” (OPF), the idea that standardized processes are more efficient and less prone to error when completed from start to finish without interruption. In the study, hospitalists committed to performing all patient admissions in OPF, focusing on one patient from initiation of chart review through exam, order entry and documentation, without interruption. Researchers then analyzed times, including time to call back to ED, time at initiation of chart review, time of evaluation of patient, time orders were placed, and time of sign-out note completed, before and after implementation of OPF. They found a substantial reduction in time of the admission process across all time points with OPF.

“When you are trying to improve quality of care in your institution, dissecting the overall work flow will allow you to discover areas that hinder the overall process,” Dr. Howard-Williams says. “Reframing your process to focus on providing excellent quality care will allow you to find workable solutions to improve the quality of care and efficiency in your practice. As part of this process, developing a team with an appropriate variety of members lays the foundation for success.”

Dr. Howard-Williams hopes that the study will inspire others to reflect on their own practices.

“If, during that reflection, they can identify areas that they would like to improve quality, we would encourage them to join us,” she says. “They will have the opportunity to build their personal work flow maps, find choke points and devise a plan for moving forward with new solutions.”