KILLEEN – New Emergency Department Director Malae Lucas has developed a new system for her staff to keep the patient waiting time below the national average. "My entire staff has been extremely supportive and behind me 100%," she said.
In Lucas’ four-month role as interim director, she claims, "Our new protocols have already shown to be effective and beneficial to everyone involved." In her new role as director, her goal is to implement innovative, new procedures to expedite patient's length of stay and improve patient and staff satisfaction.
Adventist Health System has approved a new emergency room expansion, but until then, Lucas and her team have initiated system changes to improve patient care in the emergency department:
• Extended fast track hours
• Developed ordering guidelines
• Eliminated waiting for registration
• Created interdisciplinary committees around the hospital
Lucas said Dr. McAninch, the Medical Director, and his crew have been an integral part of these changes. The fast track hours were 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The extended hours are now 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., with cross coverage from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. "About 40% of our patients are seen through the fast track area. The extended hours have cut the waiting time down by 15-20 minutes," Lucas said.
The ordering guidelines can be compared as the small steps of every procedure. When a patient arrives with certain symptoms, specific tests are almost always ordered for that illness. "We initiate the tests in a separate treatment area," Lucas explained. "The patients are then transferred to a waiting room where they can still be monitored as they wait for the physician." These guidelines prepare the physician to spend less time with each patient so he or she can see more patients in return.
Another change is patients no longer have to be registered to be seen. "If a room is available, the patient is taken to it immediately," she said. "We are hoping to implement bedside registration in September. This will be more efficient and cut the patient's stay significantly."
Interdisciplinary committees have been formed in the laboratory, radiology, in the psychiatric ward and in patient admissions. "We track where delays are taking place and try to develop new patterns to help prevent these delays," Lucas said. "Communication has been the major role here, and everyone has been cooperative."
Lucas expressed her excitement with all the changes and the commitment of her staff. "Support is very important, and I have an excellent staff. One of my philosophies in life is if you take care of your staff, your staff can take care of your patients."
Visit