Electronic patient journey boards a vital piece of the puzzle in patient flow

Objective: Internationally, there is growing interest in the applicability of visual management in healthcare, although little is known about the extent of its effectiveness. In the past 5 years technical advances have permitted the integration of all relevant data into a singular display that can improve staff efficiency, accelerate decisions, streamline workflow processes and reduce oversights and errors in clinical practice. The aim of the case study is to describe the features and application of electronic patient journey boards (EPJBs) as an enabler to accelerate patient flow that has been demonstrated and evaluated in Queensland Health hospitals.

Methods: In 2012 and 2013 we collected ward-specific data that was sourced from the Queensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection, determining the top 10 overnight diagnostic-related groups (DRGs) for each ward participating in the pilots. The Statistical Output Unit within Queensland Health then provided data and analysis on the ALOS for each of these DRGsfor the period following an EPJB installation, along with theALOSfor the sameDRGsfor the corresponding period in the previous year.

Results: Patient length of stay reduced and display of estimated discharge dates improved with the introduction of EPJBs along with improved communication and information management resulting in time savings from 20 min per staff member per shift to 2.5 h per ward a day.

Conclusion: Queensland and South Australian Health systems have succeeded in ‘making the hospital patient journey visible’ through an innovative combination of information management and prominent display of key information related to patient care portrayed on large liquid crystal display (LCD) screens in hospital wards.