Dive Brief:
- Hospitals are introducing a series of new initiatives and protocols to make their emergency departments safer and more efficient.
- For example, Washington state saved more than $30 million on healthcare after instituting a group of seven best practices designed to redirect care to the most appropriate setting and reduce preventable Medicaid ED visits.
- In another case, two dozen hospitals implemented a bedside introduction approach to minimize miscommunication resulting in medical mistakes after patient handoffs in the ED.
Dive Insight:
It's well known that poorly managed communication, especially during patient handoffs, can lead to medical errors and even patient harm. However, as these examples demonstrate, focusing on improved communication can do a lot to reduce this risk. Meanwhile, putting protocols in place to avoid "frequent flyer" ED visitors and direct patients to appropriate environments can save both money and time best spent elsewhere by clinicians. In both of these cases, developing methods offering better control of patient flow in the ED is proving to be a good idea.