Critical Success Factors for Addressing Discharge Inefficiency at a Large Academic Medical Center: A Lean Six Sigma Approach

Optimizing the Discharge Lounge Efficiency: A Quality Improvement Initiative With Innovative Approaches

BACKGROUND

Patient discharge lounges have been used to improve hospital throughput for more than 30 years; however, their implementation has been inconsistent due to varying levels of engagement from providers, staff, and patients.

LOCAL PROBLEM

A project team sought to reduce wait times for patients admitted from the emergency department (ED) by reducing discharge delays.

METHODS

This quality improvement initiative used a pre/post-implementation design.

INTERVENTION

Key strategies included selecting appropriate staff, identifying eligible patients, ensuring timely delivery of discharge medications, and interprofessional education. The discharge lounge was uniquely staffed by unlicensed patient care technicians.

RESULTS

Discharge lounge use increased by 12.5%. The time from written discharge order to the patient's departure from an inpatient unit decreased by 14 minutes, and ED wait time decreased by an average of 192 minutes.

CONCLUSION

These innovative strategies yielded positive returns and may help other organizations to improve patient throughput.

Leveraging Kaizen with Process Mining in Healthcare Settings: A Conceptual Framework for Data-Driven Continuous Improvement

Background/Objectives: Healthcare systems face persistent challenges in improving efficiency, optimizing resources, and delivering high-quality care. Traditional continuous improvement methodologies often rely on subjective assessments, while data-driven approaches typically lack human-centered adaptability. This study aims to develop an integrated framework combining Kaizen principles with Process Mining capabilities to address these limitations in healthcare process optimization. Methods: This research employed a structured literature review approach to identify key concepts, methodologies, and applications of both Kaizen and Process Mining in healthcare settings. The study synthesized insights from the peer-reviewed literature published in the last two decades to develop a conceptual framework integrating these approaches for healthcare process improvement. Results: The proposed framework combines Kaizen's employee-driven approach to eliminating inefficiencies with Process Mining's ability to analyze workflow data and identify process deviations. The integration is structured into four key phases: data collection, process analysis, Kaizen events, and continuous monitoring. This structure creates a feedback loop where data-driven insights inform collaborative problem-solving, resulting in sustained improvements validated through objective process analysis. Conclusions: The integration of Kaizen and Process Mining offers a promising approach to enhancing workflow efficiency, reducing operational errors, and improving resource utilization in healthcare settings. While challenges such as data quality concerns, resource constraints, and potential resistance to change must be addressed, the framework provides a foundation for more effective process optimization. Future research should focus on empirical validation, AI-enhanced analytics, and assessing adaptability across diverse healthcare contexts.

Improving Communication with Family Members during a Global Pandemic: Effect on Patient Experience

OBJECTIVES

Communication with patients and their families/caregivers to facilitate informed decision making is an integral part of patient/family-centered care. Due to the high coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection rates and limited personal protective equipment, healthcare systems were forced to restrict patient visitors, limit patient-provider interactions, and implement other changes in treatment protocols that disturbed traditional communications and risked eroding patient/family-centered care and adversely affected patient satisfaction. This article focuses on changes in patient experience in two dedicated COVID-19 units of an academic medical center located in the US South as a result of the enhanced communication process implemented specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

This retrospective quality improvement project used data from Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys, fielded between January 1, 2021 and August 31, 2021, to understand the role of a proactive communication initiative in patient satisfaction.

RESULTS

Our results show that HCAHPS scores for hospital unit hospital unit 4 (HSP4) in all categories increased over time, with the greatest improvements seen in the responsiveness of staff and care transition; however, HCAHPS scores for hospital unit HSP3 remained stable, with a small increase in responsiveness of staff.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that communication is a critical factor in patient satisfaction, demonstrating the efficacy of a swift and innovative initiative to improve communication with family/caregivers, which may have been linked to better patient experiences. Developing communication strategies is crucial for enhancing patient satisfaction.