Emergency Department (ED) volume growth through dramatic improvements in patient care
Challenge:
The administrator knew the hospital was not capturing an appropriate amount of Emergency Department (ED) volume when compared to the population. The service their ED staffing company was providing them was having a negative impact on their reputation, resulting in low ED volume market share and revenue. In the hospital’s words, they were looking for a group that could “demonstrate an understanding of our mission, as well as commitment to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, and excellence.”
Solution:
The hospital chose HospitalMD based on our strategic approach to capturing ED patients and maximizing revenue. We immediately implemented three processes that began to positively impact customer service and the hospital’s reputation, which led to increases in ED volumes.
- Improved door-to-doc times through a “stat” response by RNs and MDs to assess patients immediately upon arrival
- Satisfaction surveys that use a unique methodology to pinpoint the level of patient satisfaction, by physician, each day
- Expedited admission to the medical service through a local “hotline” for local primary care physicians
By streamlining the triage process, patients were able to see a physician quickly with greatly improved door-to-doc times, resulting in higher patient satisfaction. The admission “hotline” helped streamline the admission process and provide more convenience for the local primary care physicians and the patients. Patients were admitted faster to the floor, opening up ED rooms for new patients.
Result:
The hospital saw drastic improvements in their perception in the community, which resulted in increased ED volume, and ultimately, increased revenue. In the 12 months prior to HospitalMD (base yr), the ED volume was 7,588. With no population growth, the hospital’s ED volume grew 32% to over 10,000 over the next 4 years! The hospital still enjoys those volumes today!
