Aim
The DPF project aims to deliver integrated digital information solutions to improve the flow of patients, leveraging existing tools, converting and improving them in the digital health environment. Phase two of the project aims to deliver a digital information solution to identify barriers in patient flow in the near real time leveraging the ieMR and other integrated systems minimising additional clinician burden, and workflow changes.
Benefits
The data collected will assist with strategic decision making and support the reduction of both inpatient length of stays and adverse outcomes associated with prolonged hospital stays. The benefits of delivering information solutions to improve the flow of patients in a digital environment are:
- Providing visibility of bottlenecks and barriers to patient flow.
- Allowing for early targeted intervention assisting with the reduction of patient delays and length of stay.
- Embedding a sustainable escalation and monitoring process for patients with delays in their care.
- Improving hospital efficiency and patient outcomes.
- Improving the patient and carer experience.
- Improving team communication, care planning and care coordination processes.
Background
This project is an opportunity to build on current tools, such as “Waiting for What” (WfW) and “Watching Our Waits” (WoW), and develop an automated solution to capture waiting times, barriers to patient flow, establish flags and create trended reports. The DPF project is separated into two phases. Phase one of the project was the scoping and feasibility study and phase two is focused on the solutions development and implementation at a pilot site.
Phase one of the DPF project included an in-depth gap analysis and a scoping and feasibility assessment. Phase one established the feasibility to build a digital solution leveraging the ieMR and other integrated systems to provide retrospective and near real time data for clinical and strategic decision making around patient journey time points and waiting reasons. Phase two, directed by the outcomes of phase one, builds on the work and brings forward the recommendations.
The approach to phase two of the project has been informed by the outcomes of phase one and will be delivered iteratively across stages and deliverables for three tiers of the digitising patient flow solution.
Further Reading
What is the Healthcare Innovation and Transformation Excellence Collaboration (HITEC)?
