Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/34195
THE BEFORE SHOT The electronic medical record has templates that help physicians rapidly document a patient’s history and physical examination, while still allowing for free typing to enter other important details. overall wait times. Patients were moving through the registration area, then the triage area and finally being placed in a treatment room before seeing a physician. There were simply too many steps, even in the Fast Track of the ED. The Super Track program will increase patient flow within the unit, working with the existing Fast Track and regular treat- ment programs. A physician assistant will be added to the registration area to shorten the time between a patient’s arrival and the first interaction with a provider. The physician assistant can either perform an initial assessment and begin to create a larger treatment plan or — for those who have minor illnesses or injuries — provide care on the spot before a patient moves to a treatment room. A New Home for the ED Though the considerable amount of work the ED has completed and continues to refine related to efficiency, the unit was originally intended to treat a maximum of 29,000 patients per year, a substantially smaller population than the number passing through Good Samaritan Hospital these days. “As a department, the ED has focused on improving the effectiveness of our processes in terms of the day-to-day practices that enhance all aspects, from documentation to patient flow and wait- ing times,” Dr. Blaufeux says. “However, space limitations can inhibit the full impact of those processes and curb the growth of our efficiencies.” Not only will the planned expansion and renovation, slated for completion The EMR also has a visual map of the emergency department to give the staff an overview of patients in each room. THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT (ED) treats patients of all ages 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unlike many EDs, Good Samaritan Hospital’s unit is certified by the New York State Department of Health as a Level II Trauma Center based on expedient wait times, patient outcomes and quality treatment. Components of the ED, such as the within the next year and a half, add 13 new treatment rooms to the ED and double the unit’s square footage, it will also extend the unit’s diagnostic and treatment capabilities into a collection of mini suites mirroring the larger service lines of Good Samaritan Hospital. Emergency patients will no longer have to leave the ED for imaging or laboratory services or compete with patients from all over the hospital for the timely use of those services. Beyond leading the implementation of ConnectCare, which will go live in the other departments of Good Samaritan Hospital in 2012, the ED will increase its point-of-care testing. These routine tests will be performed and analyzed within the unit, reducing the processing time by up to 45 minutes. Fast Track and Triage System, work to immediately distinguish patients who have non-life-threatening cases and can be treated and discharged quickly from patients who require immediate, critical care. Currently, the ED at Good Samaritan Hospital features: + 19 treatment rooms + 24/7 staff of board-certified physi- cians, emergency nurses and physician assistants + Centralized electronic medical record, heart monitoring and medication systems + Specialty rooms, such as orthopedic, psychiatric and trauma areas + Two X-ray rooms only for ED patient use Dr. Blaufeux documents in the emergency department’s new electronic medical record.