title: Improving patient flow in the emergency department.
abstract: To improve patient flow in the ED, hospitals should: Establish a measure of patient demand by hour, and design a system to handle it. Appropriately capacitate triage processes and systems. Use a system for patient segmentation and establish distinct processes for different patient segments. Consider using team triage, and examine current triage protocols. Devise a method of tracking patients and results. Field a willing staff with a burning platform.
authors.affiliation: Best Practices, Rocky Mount, NC, USA. kjensen@best_practices.com
authors.forename: Kirk
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crane
mesh_terms: D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010507:Periodicity; D010934:Planning Techniques; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D014218:Triage; D014481:United States