Emergency Department overcrowding is a chronic issue plaguing our hospitals. Negative consequences of ED overcrowding include prolonged patient wait times, patient complaints, ambulance diversion, decreased physician productivity and subsequent loss of revenue. ED backups frequently result in a cascade effect with delays cropping up in other departments such as critical care, telemetry, surgery and post-acute care.
Optimizing Patient Throughput is one way to minimize ED overcrowding. Joint Commission standards mandate hospitals to develop plans to identify and mitigate impediments in efficient patient flow throughout the hospital. Measuring time intervals between initial patient presentation to medical assessment, to delivery of procedural action, are the building blocks of dpeartmental quality and performance improvement efforts.
A Digital Timer System provides a visual indication of elapsed or remaining time during processes or procedures. The timer counts up (elapsed time) or down (time remaining) by the second to accommodate accurate and detailed timekeeping and recording needs. Flashing digits and negative numbers indicate when time is counting down past zero. By measuring time intervals during patient procedures, the system provides evaluation data to assist in assessing your efficiency in patient care and effectively addressing overcrowding.
Read up on more timekeeping product applications for healthcare facilities here.