EMERGENCY ROOM SCHEDULING

Mercy Medical Center, Redding Ca. Mistie Cruz

Mistie.cruz@dignityhealth.org

WHAT? – ER is taking appointments? WHY?

• Giving patients more control– Convenience – Choosing how they spend their wait time – Both Clerical and Clinical anticipate arrival “Good Morning Ms. Smith we were expecting you”

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INCREASED PATIENT SATISFACTION

MMCR ER Satisfaction Pre Implementation

• Prior to implementation non urgent (level 4-5) ranged from 2-4 hours

• Average daily Left prior to completing treatment – after triage averaged 25 daily

• Our Patient Satisfaction surrounding I would recommend this facility or return for services ranged from 46-67 Percentile

MMCR ER Patient Satisfaction Today

• Average 15-20 appointments within 24 hour period

• In July Patient Registration Polite and Professional was ranked 4th within Dignity

• Overall ED Would Recommend or return for services continues to increase to 87th percentile

The Prep

• Marketing – Patient handout

• The Mindset of Management and Team • Workflow

–Registration–Clinical Team–Process

Volume

• Initial implementation (first 3 months) 3-5 appointments a week

• By month 6 we averaged 1-5 a day • Going into our 2nd year we average 15-20 daily

appointments

The Difference

• Decrease of left without being seen (left after triage) • Improved patient throughput • Accountability• Increased ER clinical and clerical collaboration

The Process

• Patient schedules the appointment online using preferred form of technology

• Fax appointment sheet prints and phone alert to ER Registration

• ER Registration places appointment on pink clip board for clinical

• Patient receives a call back from a 3rd party call center – phone assessment

Process Continued

• Patient presents and is greeted by ER Registration “we are expecting you”

• Quick Look RN completes initial assessment simultaneously

• PA assesses patient within 15 minutes • Patient treat to street 30-60 minutes • Identified Leaders receive patient feedback

regarding each appointment (real time) email

Situation “ER Saturation”

• Identified Leaders have the ability delay or defer appointments – sends electronic message

• Appointment times can be blocked

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QUESTIONS