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Busy emergency rooms have many needs. More efficient scheduling at all levels of patient care is chief among them. There are things you can do to generate more efficient emergency room scheduling practices, from the literal task of physician scheduling for shifts to more figurative aspects of scheduling. Keep these keys in mind as you seek to improve overall emergency room efficiency in your facility.
Prioritize
Not all injuries that come into emergency rooms are life threatening. It’s obvious that those have the highest priority and should be tended to first. Beyond that, though, there are a wide range of injuries and illnesses in an emergency room at any given time from cuts that require sutures to respiratory illnesses, and chronic health conditions. Once the life-threatening injuries are out of the way, it’s time to move on to less life-threatening injuries.
While conventional wisdom says you should see the next group of patients according to severity of the injury, this might not be the best choice. Sometimes it’s better to clear out a large number of smaller injuries that can be dealt with faster, to free up space, than to go for the more complex conditions that aren’t necessarily life threatening, but may require more testing and longer observation periods.
Delegate
ER physicians have a lot on their plates. They cannot be everywhere at once, though, and must learn to delegate the tasks they aren’t needed for so that their time is free to deal with the medical emergencies and conditions that require their attention and expertise.
Most ERs today have nurse practitioners, nurses, and physician assistants on staff. Make sure they are appropriately distributed in your shift scheduling process to allow plenty of support for the emergency room physicians you have on staff.
Automate
The traditional scheduling process is long and frustrating for the average administrator. Emergency medicine scheduling software, though, makes the process run much more smoothly by automating it completely.
The software takes requested days off, preferred shifts, union requirements, and more into account when creating the schedule so you don’t have to sweat the details. What once took hours, if not days, can now be done with a few clicks on the keyboard.
This will help automate the scheduling process further by sending email and/or text alerts to physicians and other staff members that can be automatically added to their personal calendars.
Modernize
Update your tech if all else fails. Make the move to digital records and share information between departments (x-rays, test results, etc.) virtually. Also consider using dictation for documentation to reduce the likelihood of mistakes related to illegible handwriting.
Efficiency doesn’t have to be a plan for the future for your emergency department. You can make changes now that will have instant results for creating a more efficient and effective health care force for your emergency department and community. These keys will get you off to a great start.
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