Tension in the Emergency Department? The Impact of Flow Stage Times on Managing Patient-Reported Experiences and Financial Productivity

Dec. 14, 2021 - Smith, J.S., Shockley, J., Anderson, S., & Liu, X.

Citation: Smith, J.S., Shockley, J., Anderson, S., & Liu, X. (2020). Tension in the Emergency Department? The Impact of Flow Stage Times on Managing Patient-Reported Experiences and Financial Productivity. Decision Sciences. DOI:  10.1111/deci.12503

Research Summary:

We studied healthcare emergency departments to determine how patient flow management affects both financial productivity and the patient experience. We found that physician-directed evaluation time was instrumental for enhancing performance on both fronts.  However, there is a threshold where the financial benefits begin to wane.  Further tradeoffs are explored as to how other process stage times (e.g., pre-care) can impact the relationship.