The 2007 National Survey on Patient Throughput and Capacity
Challenges, was sponsored by StatCom and conducted by the
Arketi Group. Nearly three-fifths (58 percent) of U.S. healthcare
executives surveyed say their facilities did not have the ability
to track patients continuously and overall half (53 percent) rated
the efficiency of their facilities' bed-turn process as poor or
fair.
The report shows healthcare facilities are still transitioning
from old methods of patient throughput management to new
technologically advanced tracking systems. In fact, two-thirds (67
percent) of executives polled report phone calls and voice messages
are still the most common way patient tracking information is made
available to admitting staff, while 63 percent indicate that
information is available on computer terminals.
- Nearly three-fifths (58 percent) of U.S. healthcare executives
surveyed indicated their facilities did not have the ability to
track patients continuously.
- Half (50 percent) of healthcare leaders surveyed indicated that
their facility has incorporated a patient flow system, yet a
patient flow system was chosen as having the best potential to
improve patient throughput (46 percent) followed by facility
expansion (18 percent), bed czar (16 percent), bed tracker (14
percent) and an emergency department tracker (6 percent).
- Case management was rated as having some or major positive
impact on patient flow processes by 88 percent of healthcare
executives.
- Bed huddles and electronic bed boards were the most common
methods for determining bed occupancy (both 38 percent). Manual bed
boards were used 29 percent of the time.
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