Case Studies
The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Association produces case studies on its member organizations across a wide range of health-care topics.
The Problem Advocate Christ Medical Center's space in the admittance bay area and resource usage was unable to meet the increase in demand. An average GI patient experienced 70 minutes of total wait time, with 19 minutes of this wait time occurring in the procedure room. Only 24 percent of GI…
The Problem Wait times in the hospital's inpatient rehabilitation center were unacceptable; some patients were refusing physical and occupational therapy as a result. Patient satisfaction scores reflected the frustration patients felt. The Solution Using Lean methodology, St. John's…
The organization was recording more patient falls than its leadership considered acceptable; approximately 25 falls each month. The nursing performance improvement department tracked falls and reported them to the Quality Indicator Project, a project of the Maryland Hospital Association, whose data…
The Problem Emergency departments across the nation are being stretched as more Americans rely on them for primary care. ED patient visits climbed 36 percent between 1999 and 2006, according to the CDC. As an urban safety-net hospital, Mount Sinai faced an even tougher challenge. When nearby…
The Problem In a 2008 medical staff satisfaction survey, 93 percent of Advocate Good Shepherd physicians indicated overall satisfaction with the hospital. However, the satisfaction rate for hospital laboratory turnaround times was between 50 percent and 60 percent. In addition, a discharge-time…
The ProblemMedication reconciliation—comparing a patient's medication orders to all medications the patient has been taking—helps to avoid medication errors such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors and drug interactions. The Institute for Safe Medication Practice estimates…
The Problem The results of blood tests are crucial to physician decision making. At St. Luke's, physicians expect to have lab test results available for morning rounds as early as 6 am. However, the phlebotomy team was regularly challenged to complete the early morning collection of blood…
The Problem St. Francis struggled getting non-emergent patients from the door to an ED bed in a timely manner. From December 2008 through February 2009, the average time from ED arrival to ED bed for ESI 3, 4 and 5 patients was 43 minutes. The Solution Under the Urgent Matters Collaborative, St.…