Improving Efficiency Of Patients Discharge Process In A Private Multi-Speciality Hospital

Abstract

Summary:

For a long time now hospital believed that one way to improve efficiency is by employing more human and non-human resources to processes. Unknown to many however there may be inherent process flow problems that need to be addressed rather than just improving the resources available. This research was conducted at Cedarcrest Hospitals Abuja which is a 60 bedded private multi-speciality hospital with over 2000 inpatient admissions yearly. Our target for the project was to optimize efficiency and enhance patient flow by improving patient discharge process and reducing the length of stay (LOS) in the hospital. Nine intervention measures were developed and tested. There was a significant reduction in the average discharge time recorded from 469.80 minutes (7.83 hours) during the first 6 months of the pre-intervention phase to 262.80 minutes (4.38 hours) across the entire post-intervention phase indicating a 44.08% reduction (p < 0.001, t-test) following the introduction of the 9 key intervention measures. It is therefore very vital for all stakeholders, both internal and external to the hospitals to play their roles effectively in order to improve the overall hospital efficiency.