ER Wait Times (Audio Conference)

AUDIOCONFERENCE ON TAPE OR CD

Sponsored by Patient Access Resource Center

presented on December 20, 2006

Long ER lines and ED efficiency remain a growing concern for a vast majority of organizations.

During this audioconference, experts from Sutter Delta Medical Center—a model organization that has seen their wait times drop from 4 to 6 hours to 1 to 2 hours since July 2006—will show you how to address this problem in your facility. Learn how to reduce your ER wait times and improve patient satisfaction by using a proven approach to prioritize patients and better manage your ED beds.

The Rapid Medical Evaluation (RME) and Express Care program positions an RME physician, a triage nurse, and a triage technician in the triage area to care for the patients who are not truly in need of emergency services.

Extensive wait times is a clinical concern when patients who are most in need of care are not always the first to receive it. When patients opt to use another facility with shorter wait times, it becomes a customer service concern. And with fewer available beds and fewer customers, the ER's financial bottom line takes a direct hit.

This program will also demonstrate the critical support factors—and the potential barriers—in adopting a successful RME system:

• physician involvement
• buy-in from administration
• willingness of staff to define patients differently

NOTE: This is a basic to intermediate program. Participants should have a general familiarity with the baseline understanding of the market dynamics and the key issues around patient throughput in the ER.

PROGRAM AGENDA

1. The original ED efficiency problem at Sutter Delta Medical Center
1. The issue and the cause
2. The financial and clinical concerns
2. Initial steps
1. Teaming up to develop a solution
2. How to present the concept to senior leadership
3. Winning physician "buy-in," the biggest obstacle
3. RME: How express-care programs really work
1. The critical success factors:
   1. Staffing in the ED
   2. Support from the administration
   3. Rethinking timing and processes
   4. Avoiding process pitfalls
2. Specific case examples
3. The role of registration
4. The role of nursing
5. Sidestepping HIPAA concerns
4. Seeing the results
1. The increase in patient satisfaction
2. Financial gains
3. Earning a competitive advantage in your market
5. Next steps: What Sutter has learned and areas in which they're still improving
1. Redirecting current efforts for the future
2. Potential demographic adjustments for cultural competence

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the audioconference, you will be able to:

• explain the implementation of rapid medical evaluation
• indicate how to apply Medical care at front end of the ED process vs. at the end of it
• compare parallel processing vs. sequential processing
• formulate a creative solution to a long-standing problem

FACULTY

From Sutter Delta Medical Center:
Jeffery Leinen, MD, FACEP, Medical Director of ED
Danna Tate, RN, Staff Nurse, ED
Cherise Libbey, Lead Registration

BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDED IN YOUR MATERIAL PACKET!

In addition to the expertise and advice presented during this audioconference, you'll also receive these free bonus tools: a sample listing of policies and procedures for implementation of RME, and various articles, including a press release about the success of Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, CA.

These materials are provided with PDF links.

WHO SHOULD LISTEN?

• ED registration directors, managers, technicians, and staff
• Patient access directors, managers, and staff
• CFOs and VPs of finance
• Patient financial services directors, managers, and staff
• ED nursing supervisors
• ED staff
• ED medical directors and physicians
• Case managers

Purchase a tape or CD of the program and listen when you can. It's a perfect training tool for new staff or as a refresher for veteran staff.

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