ED management : the monthly update on emergency department management
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Baylor Medical Center in Garland,TX, has been able to drastically reduce ED wait times, as well as the LWBS rate by streamlining the triage process and implementing a staff-driven improvement effort aimed at identifying inefficiencies and replacing them with solutions that work. The result is 11 beds of added capacity just from changes in patient flow. ⋯ Solutions included letting low-acuity patients move themselves between care settings, freeing the charge nurse from patient care duties so that he or she could oversee patient flow, and empowering physician-nurse teams to see patients more quickly. ED managers say leadership is important, but letting staff drive the improvement process is key to their success.