Application of a Human Factors Systems Approach to Healthcare Control Centres for Managing Patient Flow: A Scoping Review

Over the past decade, healthcare systems have started to establish control centres to manage patient flow, with a view to removing delays and increasing the quality of care. Such centres-here dubbed Healthcare Capacity Command/Coordination Centres (HCCCs)-are a challenge to design and operate. Broad-ranging surveys of HCCCs have been lacking, and design for their human users is only starting to be addressed. In this review we identified 73 papers describing different kinds of HCCCs, classifying them according to whether they describe virtual or physical control centres, the kinds of situations they handle, and the different levels of Rasmussen's [1] risk management framework that they integrate. Most of the papers (71%) describe physical HCCCs established as control centres, whereas 29% of the papers describe virtual HCCCs staffed by stakeholders in separate locations. Principal functions of the HCCCs described are categorised as business as usual (BAU) (48%), surge management (15%), emergency response (18%), and mass casualty management (19%). The organisation layers that the HCCCs incorporate are classified according to the risk management framework; HCCCs managing BAU involve lower levels of the framework, whereas HCCCs handling the more emergent functions involve all levels. Major challenges confronting HCCCs include the dissemination of information about healthcare system status, and the management of perspectives and goals from different parts of the healthcare system. HCCCs that take the form of physical control centres are just starting to be analysed using human factors principles that will make staff more effective and productive at managing patient flow.

Facilidades e entraves da referência em unidade de pronto atendimento

Resumo Objetivo descrever, na perspectiva de enfermeiros e médicos, as facilidades e os entraves da referência em uma Unidade de Pronto Atendimento. Método estudo descritivo, qualitativo, realizado em uma Unidade de Pronto Atendimento de um município de Santa Catarina, Brasil. Participaram sete enfermeiros e 23 médicos. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevista individual semiestruturada e analisados mediante a técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Resultados as facilidades envolveram: ter serviços de referência especializados; gravidade do paciente; atendimento em “vaga zero”; boa relação entre os profissionais dos serviços de urgência e a empatia. Dentre os entraves, estavam: contato difícil por telefone com os hospitais e a superlotação destes; dificuldade para conseguir transporte, sobretudo, para paciente com situação clínica estável e a falta de ambulância do município. Conclusão e implicações para a prática as facilidades da referência potencializam o atendimento às urgências, porém, os entraves, referentes à vaga hospitalar e ao transporte, podem comprometer a integralidade e a continuidade do cuidado, necessitando de melhorias na atenção à saúde em rede.

Oversight May Reduce Military Health System Leakage: Preventing Inappropriate Interhospital Transfers

INTRODUCTION

The Military Health System (MHS) offers an example of a socialized healthcare model, operating within a larger "purchased care" civilian healthcare market. This arrangement has facilitated a trend wherein MHS clinicians often transfer moderate-to-complex patients to surrounding civilian hospitals, despite having the capability to care for such patients in-house. In an effort to stem this behavior, two initiatives were introduced at Carl R Darnall Army Medical Center (CRDAMC): A Transfer Policy Statement and Transfer Rounds. The Transfer Policy Statement emphasized that patients ought to be transferred only for capability gaps within the hospital. Transfer Rounds were then used to review the care received by each transferred patient and assess if that care could have been delivered internally. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of these initiatives on reducing transfers from our hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective chart review from July 2019 through June 2020 to identify the number of total emergency department (ED) transfers, subcategorized as either transfers we had the capability to care for or transfers we did not have the capability to care for. The Transfer Policy Statement was published in August 2019, and Transfer Rounds were instituted in November 2019. We hypothesized that the two interventions would decrease the number of monthly inappropriate transfers. This was assessed by analyzing the proportion of inappropriate to appropriate patient transfers via Cochran and Armitage using SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). The projected received an Exemption Determination from the CRDAMC's Human Research Protections Office. The Defense Health Agency approved the data-sharing agreement.

RESULTS

Over the study period, a total of 706 transfers met the criteria for analysis. The monthly median for total ED transfers was 64.5 (Interquartile Range (IQR) 45-74); appropriate transfers averaged 29.5 (median, IQR 24.5-36) and inappropriate 25.5 (median, IQR 9-41.5). A statistically significant downward trend in the fraction of inappropriate transfers was demonstrated by Cochran and Armitage (P < .0001).

CONCLUSION

Our analysis supports the hypothesis that implementing a Transfer Policy and Transfer Rounds can significantly reduce the amount of MHS Leakage-that is the number of transferred patients that the MHS could have equally cared for. The effects of reduced patient transfers have many implications for the MHS: patients experience improved continuity of care by remaining in the same hospital system; clinicians maintain and extend their scope of practice by treating more complex patients; and patient flow and ED wait times are reduced by eliminating the transfer process. The financial implications of reduced MHS Leakage were not directly evaluated by our study, however may be assessed in future study.