Comprehensive Diversion Reduction Plan

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center developed a comprehensive diversion reduction plan to improve efficiency of hospital discharges and identified a team of individuals to oversee implementation of the plan. The plan sets guidelines for calling a “capacity code,” which triggers the implementation of protocols to quickly discharge eligible patients. The report is available as a PDF, requiring Adobe Reader.

TeamSTEPPS: Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety

This teamwork system, developed by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the U.S. Department of Defense's military health system, TeamSTEPPS

Patient Safety Program - Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) Toolkit

Developed by the U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System, the Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) Toolkit is a structured communication tool that can improve information exchange within a healthcare organization and reduce the rate of adverse events. The toolkit is available as several PDFs, PowerPoint files, Word files, and Windows Media Videos (WMVs), requiring Adobe Reader, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, and Windows Media Player, respectively.

Strategies To Improve Communication Between Pharmacy Staff and Patient

Prepared for the AHRQ, this training program introduces pharmacists to the issue of low health literacy of certain patients and identifies the implications of this issue when delivering health care. The program also explains techniques that pharmacy staff members can use to improve communication with patients who may have limited health literacy skills.The tolkit is available as a PowerPoint® Presentation.

Care Management Unit Improves ED Flow

The Grady Health System implemented the CMU process to improve flow in the Emergency Department. This toolkit provides specific solutions to ED overcrowding and low patient satisfaction levels by focusing on patients with specific diagnosis to improve access to primary care, decrease relapse rates, decrease short stay admissions, and decrease cost. The toolkit is available as a PDF and Adobe Reader is necessary to fully explore this toolkit.

Transforming Care at the Bedside How-to Guide: Optimizing Communication and Teamwork

This guide describes the innovative changes that hospitals tested and implemented to improve the work environment for their medical-surgical unit staff. These changes focus on strategic applications of improved communication techniques across multiple disciplines, including nurses, physicians, and other clinical and support staff. The report is available as a Word file, requiring Microsoft Word.

Clinical Decision Unit

William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan implemented a Clinical Decision Unit in order to better monitor cardiac and other patients without using valuable inpatient space. Guidelines for the Clinical Decision Unit were developed based on best practices from hospitals around the country. In addition, strong support from both physicians and hospital leadership was instrumental in the success of the Clinical Decision Unit. The report is available as a PDF, requiring Adobe Reader.

Code Heart - Reducing Door-to-Balloon Time

Developed by Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, the goal of the Code Heart Tracking Tool is to reduce the time from when a heart attack patient's arrival at an

Comprehensive Diversion Reduction Plan

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center developed a comprehensive diversion reduction plan to improve efficiency of hospital discharges and identified a team of individuals to oversee implementation of the plan. The plan sets guidelines for calling a “capacity code,” which triggers the implementation of protocols to quickly discharge eligible patients. The report is available as a PDF, requiring Adobe Reader.

Best Practice Initiative: Discharge Resource Room

The Regional Medical Center at Memphis implemented a discharge resource room (DRR) in order to free inpatient space for emergency department (ED) patients. Patients are moved to the ground floor DRR when they are ready to leave the hospital. This provides a comfortable space for them to receive discharge instructions from a registered nurse while wait for transportation to arrive. The report is available as a PDF, requiring Adobe Reader.

Reducing Emergency Department Crowding Through the Full Capacity Protocol

Under the Full Capacity Protocol, when the emergency department (ED) is no longer able to evaluate and treat patients in a timely fashion due to lack of space, patients awaiting admission are transferred to acute care hallway beds on inpatient units. This protocol is implemented by the hospital Bed Coordinator with approval by the hospital Medical Director. The report is available as a PDF, requiring Adobe Reader.