Last fall, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center announced a new program focused on addressing the challenges that affect our patients as they transition to each stage of their care. Every other week, our new, multidisciplinary Patient Flow Steering Committee — led by Onyeka Okonkwo, MD, and Sue Chonko, MSN, RN, our medical and clinical directors of Patient Progression, respectively — meets to determine how we can improve flow and connect each patient with the right care at the right time.
Staff-led work groups are focusing on three categories of flow failures. Like the steering committee, these groups have also been meeting diligently over the past several months to assess weekly data and develop sub-projects. For example, our “incoming” group is addressing delays that might prevent patients from being transferred to us, as well as reducing the amount of patients boarding in our ED waiting for beds. Another group is tackling obstacles that arise within PPMC, like the time it takes for patients to move between units or get procedures done while an inpatient. The “discharge” group is addressing goals like boosting our discharge-by-noon rate to beat our pre-COVID average and smoothing the overall discharge process. These improvements require collaboration and a holistic view, as it’s just as important to streamline our discharge to home process as it is to balance reasonable lengths of stay and prevent readmissions.
Anna Hepler, our manager of Clinical and Quality Data Systems, has created an incredible dashboard that breaks down each of these project areas. With the support of a solid data stream, we have been able to really dig into our patient flow measures and investigate them side-by-side. We look forward to rolling out evidence-based plans that our clinical effectiveness teams can put into action.
If you have encountered flow challenges, please share your thoughts with us at PPMCptflow@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. Similarly, if you’d like to get involved in this program, our work group leaders are always looking for additional support. The only way to create sustainable solutions is if we all commit to working more effectively than we did before. Together, we can improve patient outcomes in a measurable, impactful way.