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EMPATH's Southeastern North Carolina Client Describes ED Transformation Winning The Fight Elaine Smith-Grubb, Director of Performance Improvement Ed performance numbers continue to shine despite rapid increase in patient volumes. Cape Fear Valley's Emergency Department is one of the busiest in the state, with patient volumes growing tremendously year over year. What's really impressive, however, is how the Emergency department has continually improved quality while handling the growth. From January 2007 to January 2008 the ED has seen a 15.4 percent increase in patient volume. That equals 300 to 350 patients a day. Despite the upsurge, the time it took to discharge patients not requiring overnight stay fell from an average of 250 minutes to 185 minutes. And the average time for patients who did require an overnight stay fell from 566 minutes to 329 minutes. The numbers are significant because faster patient turnover in the ED means the entire health system is operating more efficiently. That's because ED patients who require overnight stays cannot be moved "upstairs" to other hospital units until patient beds become available. Satisfaction numbers are also on the rise. In March, estimated ED patient satisfaction scores reached the 83rd percentile nationally - an all-time high. John Reed, M.D., is the Chairman and Medical Director of Emergency Services. He says Cape Fear Valley's ED is currently operating the best he has ever seen during his five years with health system. He points out that in February, the ED treated more than 10,000 patients - an all-time high- despite only having 29 days in the month. Yet, patient wait times for patients discharged from the ED were not significantly affected during that time. Dr. Reed attributes much of the performance improvement to Cape Fear Valley's ongoing Hospital Innovation Project (HIP) and employees working with EMPATH consultants to streamline patient throughput. The goal was to have all departments work as one cohesive unit. "If we have beds open upstairs, patients needing admission spend much less time in the emergency room," Dr. Reed says, "That means patients aren't having to wait for a room to open up, and they're a lot happier for it." "This efficient flow of patients through the ED means that thare are beds available for the next patient, reducing time spent in the waiting room." And less wait times have a dramatic effect on patient satisfaction, which is becoming another key performance measure to insurance providers. ER Trends: A Growing Business
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