Decreased LOS, Increased Savings
ED Optimization – Patient Experience & Flow
What we did…
- Realized savings of roughly 2-3 million
- Decreased IP LOS caused the ED LOS to decrease by 6 hours
- Decreased IP LOS by .5 days
The challenge…
The hospital needed to redesign their work processes, identify capacity constraints and operational bottlenecks, and determine mitigation approaches for the new ED. The facility was moving from 6 freestanding EDs to a single, combined unit. They were decreasing the number of inpatient beds in the new facility and became one of the largest EDs in the nation. The client anticipated opening the new facility at full capacity since it was building a smaller hospital than it operated. Our challenge was to make the new facility fit ‘better’ through identification and implementation of best practices.
How we did it…
Adept staff developed a realistic simulation model of their Emergency Department. The project team worked with hospital personnel to apply the future processes to identify resource and capacity bottlenecks. We evaluated best practices with anticipated volumes to determine which best practices and their associated resources produced the most efficient and effective processes.We developed a combined simulation model of the inpatient tower, operating room, and emergency department. The project team examined bed management processes, bed types, support areas, and best practices. We then mapped existing patients into the new hospital units. The goal was to ensure that patients got the desired primary bed type with fewer transfers.
The client…
LAC+USC Medical Center is the largest health care facility, and the largest provider of trauma/emergency services in LA County. LAC+USC is licensed for 1400 beds (685 staffed). ED visits exceed 170,000 per year, outpatient visits exceed 530,000 per year.