Decreased Time to Bed, Time to Physician, and Length of Stay While Increasing Patient Satisfaction Scores

ORLANDO, FL–(EMWNews – July 24, 2008) –

NEWS FACTS

Blue Jay Consulting helped Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), a

396-bed academic medical center, to decrease time to bed, time to

physician, and length of stay while increasing patient satisfaction scores.

Executives at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center are always working to

improve their level of service. They brought in Blue Jay Consulting to work

with DHMC’s Emergency Department to enhance interim leadership and optimize

performance. Blue Jay Consulting helped DHMC to improve operational

processes, redefine roles and responsibilities, and improve communications

methodologies.

A comprehensive assessment identified opportunities for improving patient

throughput in the Emergency Department, beginning with data management and

tracking, enhancement of the charge nurse role and immediate bedding when

Emergency Department beds were available.

A detailed dashboard focusing on key operating metrics including length of

stay, acuity, patient satisfaction, LWBS and AMA rates was developed and

reviewed at weekly interdisciplinary leadership meetings, as well as at

monthly physician and staff meetings. Immediate bedding when beds were

available was implemented. Modifications to prompts in the Emergency

Department tracking system improved the ease for physician staff to

identify patients ready to be seen. Concurrent with strategies for

improving patient flow, routine charge nurse meetings were held to enhance

communication and accountability of that role. A 360° performance appraisal

tool for charge nurses was implemented to provide specific feedback to

individual staff.

The results are improved patient care. Time to bed decreased 35%, from 55

minutes to 36 minutes. Time to MD was reduced 38% from 99 minutes to 62

minutes. The length of stay for discharged patients also improved 22%.

Patient satisfaction regarding waiting time to treatment room rose by a

mean score of 15.8 points, from 72.9 to 88.7.

QUOTES

“With our enhanced interim approach, Blue Jay Consulting works with the

staff, teaching them new skills which results in making the Emergency

Department incrementally better,” said Mark Feinberg, Managing Partner,

Blue Jay Consulting. “Facilities such as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

bring us in because they know we improve departmental performance and not

just act as a placeholder. We work with facility administration and

management from other departments to implement change while executing the

day-to-day leadership needs.”

ABOUT BLUE JAY CONSULTING

Blue Jay Consulting is comprised of nationally recognized emergency care

experts who implement effective, lasting changes to optimize service and

throughput in hospital emergency departments. Blue Jay creates

outcome-oriented solutions and achieves quantifiable results through

process improvement services and enhanced interim leadership. We empower

hospitals to be the best they can be. For further information, please visit

www.bluejayconsulting.com.

ABOUT DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK MEDICAL CENTER

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) is New Hampshire’s only academic

medical center. Internationally renowned, nationally ranked, and regionally

respected, DHMC integrates high-quality patient care, advanced medical

education, and translational research to provide a full spectrum of health

care.

DHMC is New Hampshire’s only Level I Trauma Center and is one of only two

in all of Northern New England. DHMC also includes the Norris Cotton Cancer

Center, a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated Comprehensive Cancer

Center — one of only 39 in the entire United States. DHMC is also home to

the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD), New Hampshire’s only

children’s hospital.