Patient flow is a persistent problem at hospitals and other healthcare facilities, according to a recent survey of more than 200 healthcare executives. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said their facilities have poor patient flow, and about two-thirds blamed the problem on poor communication. Other reasons cited for poor patient flow include ineffective scheduling (36 percent), shortages of both bed space (36 percent) and staff (34 percent), and inadequate patient tracking (32 percent).
The survey on "Patient Flow Challenges and Technologies" was conducted by StatCom, a subsidiary of Jackson Healthcare Solutions that offers patient flow logistics and tracking software. "The study suggests patient flow improvements can be met with certain challenges, but not from budgetary or technological standpoints," says Ben Sawyer, StatCom’s executive vice president of client services. "Healthcare executives say overcoming behavioral patterns poses the greatest challenge, followed by resistance to change, when improving patient flow at their facility."
Seventy-six percent of those polled said their facilities have organized committees to deal with patient flow and capacity issues. Respondents also indicated they are considering a number of new technologies to aid with patient flow, including bar-coding systems (62 percent), patient tracking software (38 percent), computer tablets or PDAs (33 percent) and radio-frequency identification (29 percent). But 43 percent said they currently do not use patient flow technology at their facilities.
A full copy of the survey report is available for download here. For advice on how to improve patient throughput at your facility, see "7 Top Tips for Fast-tracking" from the August 2008 issue of OSM.
—Irene Tsikitas
