Essay Example on Maximizing Patient Flow in Healthcare: Its Criticality & Benefits

Introduction

Patient flow is one of the most important factors to consider in healthcare; the movement of patients in a healthcare facility Is termed as patient flow. It involves physical resources, medical care, and the internal system necessary to get patients from the admission point until the patient's discharge; all these processes must maintain quality service delivery and client satisfaction to ensure optimum patient flow (Armony et al. 2015). Promoting patient flow in healthcare is a critical factor to consider in the process of the hospital or departmental management within a hospital as well as other healthcare facilities. The most crucial element in improving patient flow is to ensure optimal flow, which comprises the consideration of the following elements; efficiency, speed, and effectiveness (Armony et al. 2015). Meeting the demand for patient care by ensuring that patients move through the right medical care pathway while promoting coordination between staff, patient safety, and the outcomes are the main points of concern in improving patient flow. This article discusses strategies of improving patient flow and analyses it based on a Phlebotomy department in the hospital.

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Strategies for Improving Patient Flow

In order to ensure effective and efficient patient flow improvement in healthcare, it essential to develop a strategic framework for the implementation of the critical factors in an orderly manner. By using a strategic means, a hospital can save resources on staffing, minimize wait times, and eventually improve the quality of care in a department and the entire facility. The following strategies help in improving patient flow in a hospital:

1. Use of Data to Predict Patterns

Data concerning patient volume, members of staff, including nurses, physicians, and other healthcare practitioners, is essential to improving patient flow (Huang, Carmeli & Mandelbaum, 2015). Using computer softwares to track trends in these data helps a hospital to predict patient's and other needs that play a role in patient flow. An establish framework to optimize patient flow in using the data predictability approach. The data helps to manage patient flow, and an organization can organize and allocate resources based on predictable admissions patterns.

2. Align Reporting with the Heads of Every Department

Establishing a consistent and precise reporting approach between the heads of different departments of patient care will be easy to improve patient flow. In hospitals, medical services concerning one or different patients may involve different departments; this involves admissions, surgery, radiology, and more. It is, therefore, essential to keep reporting consistent and precise as the patient moves between different departments. Doctors or any other healthcare practitioners may feel frustrated when the patient flow is unrollable; this affects service delivery, work experience, and patient care outcomes (Huang, Carmeli & Mandelbaum, 2015).

3. Gain support from the members of the executive

The approach taken by the senior members of the executive, as well as their concerns, plays matters in improving patient flow. The strategy involves asking for seeking the consent of the movement team because they can potentially influence operations in a hospital (Jarvis, 2016). If they are not supportive of the need to improve patient flow, it may not be good; therefore, they play an essential role in determining the successful improvement of patient flow in healthcare. For instance, the CEO may set clear guidelines for determining the new move to improving patient flow in terms of resources and addressing different departments concerning the matter.

Patient Flow in Your Department

Phlebotomy being one of the essential departments in healthcare, patient flow also serves as a critical factor to consider because it involves various processes aimed at drawing blood from patients; it, therefore, involves different patient attendance at different times. As a Phlebotomists in this department, I find it relatively comfortable to operate with patients because the patient flow is relatively optimum.

The number of patients served, and the trends in admission data are documented to help in strategizing patient flow control measures. The flow of patients differs based on different periods; there are busy days where patients to serve increase dramatically, at some point, this brings about uncontrol patient flow that requires attention from the department and the members of the executive.

We offer phlebotomy services for both in-patient and out-patients, this implies that the number of patients we receive each time are many and patient flow may be complicated, fortunately, through consistent reporting of patient inflows and the use of hospital data to predict patient flow in the department, we have managed to improve and ensure that the patients receive quality services. One of the most significant moves that the hospital has made is the provision of sufficient facilities for the phlebotomy department and increased adequate staff. The department is culturally accountable for the quick response of staff, efficient, and effective services. My collogues support the department's goal of reducing the uncontrol movements of patients.

Despite the optimal patient flow in the department, however, there is a need for more adjustments to improve more on it. In order to ensure the better improvement of patient flow in the Phlebotomy department, it is essential to consider examining the leading portals of patient entry in the hospital. In order to balance the placement of patients from different departments that requires our services, we can always look ion the data on the speed of placement of patients from each source or department based on a daily and monthly basis. Therefore, it will be easy to decide on the number of staff needed and the facilities necessary to optimize patient flow within our department. Furthermore, paying thoughtful attention to the rapidly growing or trending specialities that require our services will also help to control patient flow to the optimum.

References

Armony, M., Israelit, S., Mandelbaum, A., Marmor, Y. N., Tseytlin, Y., & Yom-Tov, G. B. (2015). On patient flow in hospitals: A data-based queueing-science perspective. Stochastic Systems, 5(1), 146-194.

Huang, J., Carmeli, B., & Mandelbaum, A. (2015). Control of patient flow in emergency departments, or multiclass queues with deadlines and feedback. Operations Research, 63(4), 892-908.

Jarvis, P. R. E. (2016). Improving emergency department patient flow. Clinical and experimental emergency medicine, 3(2), 63.