Patient Flow: Strategies to Improve Throughput and Control Surge Capacity

AUDIO CONFERENCE ON CD OR AUDIO ON-DEMAND

Sponsored by: Briefings on Patient Safety

presented on August 19, 2009

PROBLEM

Tracking and optimizing patient flow through every unit is a complex process, wrought with potential obstacles and concerns over patient safety. In an event that would cause a surge-such as an outbreak of H1N1 flu, a chemical explosion, or a major accident-patient flow takes on new levels of immediacy. Hospitals positioned to screen patients, minimize their exposure to others, and absorb the financial ramifications of reduced traffic in other revenue-producing areas will be in much better position to survive a surge and operate efficiently during non-traumatic occasions.

LEARN FROM US

HCPro's 90-minute audio conference, Patient Flow: Strategies to Improve Throughput and Control Surge Capacity, features Kirk B. Jensen, MD, MBA, FACEP (BestPractices, Inc.) and Janet Glowicz, RN, MPH (Denton Regional Medical Center). Dr. Jensen will provide a framework for how to develop effective patient flow throughout your facility, using a common sense methodology that incorporates theoretical and practical examples. Ms. Glowicz will offer a front-line perspective of her facility's response to the recent H1N1 pandemic, and reveal tips she learned about how to predict a surge, understand your surge capacity, and maintain patient safety in a traumatic environment.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the conclusion of this audio conference, you will be able to:

• Recognize the return on investment that improved patient flow brings
• Develop a solid foundation of patient flow at your facility to handle a variety of scenarios
• Identify your surge capacity potential and create outlets to manage patient overflow
• Devise procedures to predict and manage patient surges
• Implement processes and systems to engage your team and improve communication

FINAL AGENDA

• The Flow Imperative
  • The Importance of Flow
  • The Return on Investment
• Key Strategic Operational Concepts for Managing Patient Flow
  • Demand/Capacity Management
  • Real-time Monitoring of Patient Flow
  • Forecasting
  • Queuing theory
  • The Theory of Constraints
  • Managing Variation
  • Appreciation of a System
• The Flow Change Package
  • The current knowledge base
  • Case studies
  • Forecasting and predicting patient flow
• Patient Flow as a Network of Queues and Interconnected Microsystems
  • The ED
  • The OR
  • The ICU
  • Your referral network
• The Importance of Patient Flow in the Hospital Front-End Operations
• Engaging Your Team
• Surge Capacity
  • Predicting a surge
  • Gathering knowledge about the threat
  • Utilizing community control measures to limit exposure
  • Triaging at entry
  • Containment until evaluation
  • Keeping healthy patients safe
  • Communicating critical information to practitioners (IC 01.06.01.03)
  • Influxes are marathons, not sprints
• Question and answer session

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Janet Glowicz RN, MPH, director of infection control, Denton Regional Medical Center (Denton, TX). Ms. Glowicz has more than 25 years experience in nursing. Her previous experience as a public health official has included responsibility for coordinating disease response and control methods in a county with nearly a quarter-million residents. Denton Regional Medical Center managed cases of the H1N1 flu in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and Glowicz developed perspective at handling the issues associated with the pandemic.

Kirk B. Jensen, MD, MBA, FACEP, chief medical officer, BestPractices, Inc. (Fairfax, VA) Dr. Jensen has been medical director for several emergency departments and is a faculty member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) focusing on patient flow, quality improvement, and patient satisfaction both within ED and the hospital. He chaired the innovative IHI communities Operational and Clinical Improvement in the Emergency Department and Improving Flow in the Acute Care Setting. Dr. Jensen is co-author of the 2008 ACHE award winning book Leadership for Smooth Patient Flow. He has expertise in workflow redesign, staff satisfaction, patient safety and satisfaction, project management and other topics related to patient flow, operations, and process improvement.

WHO SHOULD LISTEN?

Survey coordinator, patient safety officer, quality director/manager, performance improvement director/manger, nurse manager, hospital administrator, ED manager, risk managers

AUDIO ON-DEMAND

In addition to the regular purchase options for HCPro audio conferences, we are pleased to offer another option, audio on-demand. Audio on-demand allows you to download the program and play it back at your convenience through your computer or MP3 player. Purchase a CD or audio on-demand of the program and listen when you can. It's also a perfect training tool for new staff or as a refresher for veteran staff.

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