Improving the patient discharge process: implementing actions derived from a soft systems methodology study
| Autor: | Stella Smith, Michael Emes, Suzanne Ward, Alan Smith |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Patient discharge
021103 operations research Computer science Process (engineering) 030503 health policy & services Health Policy 0211 other engineering and technologies Health Informatics 02 engineering and technology Processes of change Article 03 medical and health sciences Soft systems methodology Operations management sense organs 0305 other medical science Complex needs |
| Zdroj: | Health Systems. 8:117-133 |
| ISSN: | 2047-6973 2047-6965 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/20476965.2018.1524405 |
| Popis: | In the period from January 2013 to July 2014, three process change initiatives were undertaken at a major UK hospital to improve the patient discharge process. These initiatives were inspired by the findings of a study of the discharge process using Soft Systems Methodology. The first initiative simplified time-consuming paperwork and the second introduced more regular reviews of patient progress through daily multi-disciplinary "Situation Reports". These two initiatives were undertaken in parallel across the hospital, and for the average patient they jointly led to a 41% reduction between a patient being declared medically stable and their being discharged from the hospital. The third initiative implemented more proactive alerting of Social Care Practitioners to patients with probable social care needs at the front door, and simplified capture of important patient information (using a "SPRING" form). This initiative saw a 20% reduction in total length of stay for 88 patients on three wards where the SPRING form was used, whilst 248 patients on five control wards saw no significant change in total length of stay in the same period. Taken together, these initiatives have reduced total length of stay by 67% from 55.8 days to 18.6 days for the patients studied. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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