Reducing Length of Stay in the Emergency Department

National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch

Status: Completed

Conditions: Length of Stay

Treatments: Behavioral: Quality improvement (QI) interventions

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03185533

105-061-E

Details and patient eligibility

About

Emergency department (ED) crowding has become an international challenge in the recent decades.

Length of stay (LOS) is a useful marker to monitor ED crowding. Searching for the possible causes and reducing barriers may have the greatest impact on EDLOS.

Therefore, the investigators assembled a multidisciplinary team for improvement of the ED process, to undergo assessments of ED patient flow with the spirit of lean-sigma methodologies. The objectives of this study were to evaluate a Lean-sigma-based initiative to lessen EDLOS.

Full description

Lean aims to smooth out the workflow and to eliminate wastes. In the ED settings, lean principles can display the process of the ED patient flow. Six sigma, a complementary strategy, has the merit to compensate the potential weakness of Lean through a data-driven process. Currently, a combination of Lean and Six sigma methodologies develops to solve the problems of workflow.

It became clear that concurrent multifaceted interventions were needed to reduce EDLOS. Therefore, the investigators assembled a multidisciplinary quality improvement team for improvement of the ED process, to undergo assessments of ED patient flow with the spirit of lean-sigma methodologies. The objectives of this study were to evaluate a Lean-sigma-based initiative to lessen EDLOS.

Enrollment: 72,000 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• the patients were registered in the ED from Jan, 2015 to Dec, 2015.

Exclusion criteria

• the patients were excluded because of left without seeing a physician.

Trial design

72,000 participants in 1 patient group

to reduce ED length of stay

Description:

to reduce ED length of stay to lessen ED crowding by using Lean-sigma management and quality improvement interventions including reducing boarding time and medical decision time.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Quality improvement (QI) interventions