Task Rebalancing to Improve Discharge Efficiency

Transitions from hospital to post-acute care is both time consuming and complex. When discharge tasks are not coordinated and stacked on the patient’s last day, any disruption can cause a cascade of negative events. In fact, 30% of all hospital admissions have a 24-hour discharge delay due to non-clinical reasons. Bennett Masden, Director of Quality at Great River Health in West Burlington, Iowa joins host Margaret Rudisill, Performance Improvement Director at Vizient to explore how moving tasks before the day of discharge can help reduce a patient’s length of stay. Guest Speaker: Bennett Masden, BBA Director of Quality Great River Health Moderator: Margaret Rudisill, RN, BSN, MS-HQS PI Program Director Vizient Show Notes: [01:22] Task rebalancing to alleviate resource constraints at discharge [02:04] Use a process map to determine when tasks are happening and decide what tasks can move earlier [03:13] How to respond to pushback [04:10] A cross-functional team of stakeholders develops an action plan and encourages commitment [04:31] Example: moving exercise oximetry tests to the day before discharge [05:35] Other examples: medication reconciliation and physical therapy [07:35] Staff reaction to task rebalancing Links | Resources: Contacting Knowledge on the Go: [email protected] Bennet Masden’s email: [email protected] Margaret Rudisill’s contact: [email protected] Subscribe Today! Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Android RSS Feed