Turn to staff for dramatic improvement in wait times, productivity.

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. A cross section of volunteers from the ED staff reviewed metrics and devised solutions that they felt would work best to boost efficiency and eliminate bottlenecks. 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.