May 1, 2011The Medical Journal of Australia
Streamlining elective surgery care in a public hospital: the Alfred experience
Key result
Implementing a clinical process redesign and dedicated elective surgery facility reduced hospital-initiated postponement rates to 1% and significantly reduced length of stay (P < 0.001).
Why the study?
Does clinical process redesign and a dedicated elective surgery facility improve timeliness of care and reduce length of stay in patients undergoing elective surgery?
Population
Patients undergoing elective surgery at a major tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia, between February…
Comparison
Implementing a process redesign to streamline… vs Historical control (before the process redesign).
Design
Cohort
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
May support process redesign for elective surgery efficiency; leaves open causal effects without randomized confirmation.
Study Design
Type
Observational
Multicenter
No
Structured PICO
Does clinical process redesign and a dedicated elective surgery facility improve timeliness of care and reduce length of stay in patients undergoing elective surgery?
P
Population
Patients undergoing elective surgery at a major tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia, evaluated between February 2005 and February 2010.
I
Intervention
Implementing a process redesign to streamline clinical pathways for elective surgery, focusing on the patient journey from referral to discharge, and establishing a separate, dedicated elective surgery facility.
C
Comparator
Historical control (before the process redesign).
O
Outcome
Numbers of patients waiting beyond national recommended waiting times for elective surgery; hospital-initiated postponement (HIP) rates; and lengths of stay (LOS).
Main Result
p-value: p=< 0.001
Clinical process redesign and a dedicated elective surgery center improved timeliness of care and reduced length of stay for elective surgery patients.
Cite This Study
Lowthian et al. (2011) conducted an observational in Elective surgery. Clinical process redesign and dedicated elective surgery facility vs. Before process redesign was evaluated on Numbers of patients waiting beyond national recommended waiting times, hospital-initiated postponement (HIP) rates, and lengths of stay (LOS) (p=< 0.001). Implementing a clinical process redesign and dedicated elective surgery facility reduced hospital-initiated postponement rates to 1% and significantly reduced length of stay (P < 0.001).