Rather than adding new beds to alleviate overcrowding at some hospitals, some experts say administrators should look at how they can use the ones they have more efficiently. Dr. Paul Pageau, President of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians points to issues with patients that remain in hospital who should instead get an alternative level of care. Pageau believes packed emergency departments aren’t a symptom of too many people with non-urgent problems, but an inability to transfer patients to the appropriate wards caused by a bottleneck in discharging patients. Dr. Dick Zoutman, a professor in the School of Medicine at Queen's University says the concept of "daily Kaizen" or constant improvement employed by Toyota can hold lessons for hospitals. He explains some hospitals found efficiencies in calling the family of a patient the night before they are discharged and asking them to arrive 30 minutes earlier, freeing up beds a total of six hours earlier.
NBHC Care Experience