title: The flex track: flexible partitioning between low- and high-acuity areas of an emergency department.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Emergency departments (EDs) with both low- and high-acuity treatment areas often have fixed allocation of resources, regardless of demand. We demonstrate the utility of discrete-event simulation to evaluate flexible partitioning between low- and high-acuity ED areas to identify the best operational strategy for subsequent implementation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A discrete-event simulation was used to model patient flow through a 50-bed, urban, teaching ED that handles 85,000 patient visits annually. The ED has historically allocated 10 beds to a fast track for low-acuity patients. We estimated the effect of a flex track policy, which involved switching up to 5 of these fast track beds to serving both low- and high-acuity patients, on patient waiting times. When the high-acuity beds were not at capacity, low-acuity patients were given priority access to flexible beds. Otherwise, high-acuity patients were given priority access to flexible beds. Wait times were estimated for patients by disposition and Emergency Severity Index score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A flex track policy using 3 flexible beds produced the lowest mean patient waiting time of 30.9 minutes (95% confidence interval [CI] 30.6 to 31.2 minutes). The typical fast track approach of rigidly separating high- and low-acuity beds produced a mean patient wait time of 40.6 minutes (95% CI 40.2 to 50.0 minutes), 31% higher than that of the 3-bed flex track. A completely flexible ED, in which all beds can accommodate any patient, produced mean wait times of 35.1 minutes (95% CI 34.8 to 35.4 minutes). The results from the 3-bed flex track scenario were robust, performing well across a range of scenarios involving higher and lower patient volumes and care durations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using discrete-event simulation, we have shown that adding some flexibility into bed allocation between low and high acuity can provide substantial reductions in overall patient waiting and a more efficient ED.
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH. Electronic address: lolomathlaker@yahoo.com.
authors: Lauren F
authors: LF
authors: Laker
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; James M. Anderson Center for Health Performance Excellence, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH.
authors: Craig M
authors: CM
authors: Froehle
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
authors: Christopher J
authors: CJ
authors: Lindsell
authors: Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; Department of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Ward
mesh_terms: D001513:Beds; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D014218:Triage / Q000458:organization & administration*