Getting Patients into Beds Faster

Photo of members of the Time to Inpatient Bed Corporate Steering Committee.

This year, QCH made significant strides in addressing one of its key corporate priorities: reducing the time it takes for patients to access an inpatient bed. Key areas of focus included:

Admission to Bed Assignment: Enhancements to the process of assigning patient beds has helped track and reduce delays from the moment an admission order is written to when a bed is assigned.

Inpatient Stay: A trial of a standardized format for daily multidisciplinary rounds on a medicine unit supported more proactive care planning.

Bed Assignment to Unit Arrival: A new bed assignment and tracking system was implemented in the ED improving visibility and coordination. Ongoing review of portering processes will reduce transfer delays within the hospital.

Discharge to Next Admission: The hospital implemented a consistent approach to documenting the predicted day of discharge, which facilitated earlier discharge planning and faster turnover of beds.

Identification of Seniors at Risk (ISAR): Implementation of screening to identify older adults in the ED at risk of becoming Alternate Level of Care ALC, enabling earlier intervention.

The hospital set a target of reducing the time to inpatient bed to 25 hours—and successfully surpassed this goal, achieving an average time of 22 hours, down from an average of 26.2 hours last fiscal year. This achievement reflects a focused, system-wide effort to streamline each stage of the patient journey. We know there is more work to do and will continue to work towards decreasing the time to inpatient bed.