HASC and the San Francisco-based Institute for Medical Quality, with a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, have partnered to produce a groundbreaking demonstration on length-of-stay in hospital EDs. Using lean strategies to streamline procedures, the evaluation found significantly reduced wait times can save hospitals money and generate revenue.

The report offers guidelines for improving efficiency and recovering revenue lost when patients bail on treatment due to long waits. Titled Effectiveness of Deploying Lean Process Improvement to Reduce Wait Times for Emergency Department Patients Admitted for Inpatient Care, the report can be accessed here. 

HASC attended a 2016 meeting that identified five Los Angeles-area candidates for the project. Three opted to participate – two non-profit and one for-profit. All are part of nationwide systems. All served low-income patients with chronic health issues. Participant hospitals are not identified in the report.

In addition to increased revenue, the business cases showed significant savings resulted “from reducing ED staff turnover and absenteeism,” the report noted.

The study is likely to garner attention in the wake of last month’s Kaiser Health News report on patients who left EDs before their care was complete. The fraction of patients “eloping” in this manner increased by almost 60 percent from 2012 to 2017, that report found. 

Admitted patients with complex needs often languish in the ED waiting for an inpatient bed, which increases the risk of adverse outcomes, medical errors – and mortality.

According to KHN’s data analysis, California emergency room wait times remain higher than the national average, and only four states have longer median wait times.

The report authored by IMQ found that data, analytical and staff shortfalls slowed the participating hospitals’ progress. Systems that want to improve patient outcomes and financial performance should invest in resources needed to boost lean process improvement, the report concluded.

Questions on the study should be directed to Kevin Reeder, program manager at the Institute for Medical Quality, at (415) 882-5132.

Contact:
Erik Skindrud
(213) 538-0728
eskindrud@hasc.org