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Memphis Hospital One of Nation’s Few to Offer 30-Minute ER Guarantee
From the time patients register in the ED, located at 1300 Wesley Drive in the Whitehaven area of Memphis, to the time they see a physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner, the wait is no longer than a half-hour. The move makes the Memphis hospital one of very few in the nation — the only one in Memphis and arguably the only one in Tennessee — to offer such a guarantee. “Our goal is for every single patient to be seen by a physician within 30 minutes because every minute is precious,” said Dr. Michael Ugwueke, CEO and administrator of Methodist South Hospital. “If there’s an instance when we do not meet our standard, patients will receive a $20 gift card redeemable at our hospital gift shop and a letter of apology from me.” When Ugwueke initially pitched the 30-minute guarantee to hospital leaders, “they thought I was crazy,” he recalled, with a laugh. “I’d worked in a number of facilities before coming to Methodist South, and we were able to reduce the ED wait time significantly,” he explained. “We didn’t go so far as to offer a 30-minute guarantee, but I knew definitely it could be done. The process only needed to be improved upon.” Several months ago, Ugwueke noted the turnaround time goal from registration to checkout in the ED was 240 minutes. “But that wasn’t even met consistently,” he said. “The time for a patient to see a provider wasn’t even measured, so nobody had a clue about the timeline.” The greatest challenge was addressing the cultural change, said Ugwueke, who pointed out that a couple of months before the ED implemented the 30-minute guarantee, only 4 percent of patients saw providers within a half-hour. “To accomplish this goal, we had to be metric-driven,” he explained. “Anything must be measured to be improved upon. Once you work out the process, it’s no different than the way you do your work.” Ugwueke is confident the ED system will not be overburdened. “It’s not like people are waiting to go to the ED if they don’t need to be there,” he noted. “Our reason for doing this is truly to address people’s concerns. If you have an emergency, no matter how small, in your mind, it’s truly an emergency. When you get there, you want to be seen immediately.” The ED staff was energized by the guarantee initiative, said Ugwueke. “It created a sense of momentum among the staff and became something to rally around,” he said. The Bigger Picture During the last several months of 2007, the hospital completed $7 million in renovations and equipment upgrades, $350,000 of which was earmarked for ED renovations that were recently completed. Other renovations included the second and third floor medical-surgical floors and the cafeteria. Earlier this year, Methodist South installed a high-tech VCT (Volume Computed Tomography) system, providing doctors with some of the clearest and most detailed images of the carotid and coronary arteries to diagnose disease and life-threatening illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and chest pain. Methodist South has been focused on improving its ED for several months, with renovations including moving the existing triage room and adding two more. “Having three triage areas will really speed up our ability to get patients back to the treatment rooms to get the care they need,” said Charlotte Ramsey, chief nursing officer for Methodist South. Ramsey noted other improvements include a new registration desk, areas for bedside registration clerks, new work stations for case management workers and patient care coordinators, and a security station. New flooring, paint, XM satellite radio and a plasma TV with information to help patients better understand the ED processes round out the improvements. Paging “Mr. Patient” Patients are given “coaster pagers” upon check-in that light up when it is their turn to see a healthcare provider, similar to devices used in many restaurants. “Our ED patients are very important to us,” said Ugwueke. “We want to ensure that every patient receives outstanding care as quickly as possible.” In 2006, Methodist South reported 37,541 emergency department visits. Early reports show patient volume was up significantly in 2007. “These changes will greatly enhance our ability to treat patients efficiently and quickly, said Dr. Clyde Brown, medical director of the Methodist South emergency department. “The ED physicians have been impressed with the teamwork involved to make patient care here even better.” Since implementing the 30-minute guarantee process in the ER, Methodist South leaders continue to thoroughly review all ED processes, including ambulance flow. They continue working with other departments to achieve success by hosting a daily meeting with a team representing emergency, lab, radiology and other departments to assess patient care for the day prior and identify any additional opportunities for improvement. “This has truly been a team effort and there are many people at Methodist South to thank,” said Ugwueke. “However, the true beneficiary of all this work is the patient who walks through our emergency door and is treated quickly and with dignity and respect.” Ugwueke has only dispatched a few $20 gift certificates along with letters of apology saying “we missed the 30 minute mark and we want you to come back.” Last year was a banner year for Methodist South, including recognition in early 2007 with the 2007 Premier Award for Quality for Excellence in the care of patients in the area of maternal and neonatal care. Caption: Pictured are Dr. Michael Ugwueke, CEO/administrator of Methodist South Hospital; Peggy Troy, COO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare; Dr. Clyde Brown, medical director; Delois Broady, chaplain; and Monica Hunt, clinical director. February 2008 Tags:NoneBookmark:
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