5 Ways to Manage Good Patient Flow in Your Hospital
The management of all sizes of healthcare practices have recognised the prominence of seamless patient flow at the hospital. In fact is the key for success and it has to be done just the right way in order to increase the efficiency and derive best results in terms of ‘Increased Patient Satisfaction’. Gone are the days when hospital used to depend on appointment and waiting-room process. The lives of people have become eventful and individuals expect seeing the doctor or any healthcare provider should not be time consuming.
The clinical practices should give greater importance to patient flow even from the initial stages of hospital planning. The patient bottlenecks causes unnecessary delays that take big toll on the overall patient experience.
Right from the reception, hospital management should ensure the patients and their assistants feel comfortable and the waiting period should be as less as possible. When they feel cared and recognized by the hospital staff, hospital is gained good respect and the patient experience is just enhanced!
The clinical practices should give greater importance to patient flow even from the initial stages of hospital planning. The patient bottlenecks causes unnecessary delays that take big toll on the overall patient experience.
Right from the reception, hospital management should ensure the patients and their assistants feel comfortable and the waiting period should be as less as possible. When they feel cared and recognized by the hospital staff, hospital is gained good respect and the patient experience is just enhanced!
However, despite maximum efforts it is not always as easy as it is said. Patient Experience increases over time and healthcare practices can achieve it by constantly evolving and surpassing all the obstacles. Here are few step that could help you in establishing seamless patient flow.
- Internal Traffic Flow and Clear Idea of Operation Flow – Every staff member of the hospital, even at the bottom levels should be well aware of the patient flow and they should be able to direct the patients in the right direction. The patient flow stream should be focussed more on the patient convenience that provides better patient experience.
- Ensure Diagnostic and Consultation Processes that Don’t Overlap – The diagnostic facilities should ensure proximity with proper signboards within the hospital area. Most importantly the diagnostic centres should not cross paths during the checking process. A faster consultation and diagnosis process make the patients to find solution for the ailments or sickness without any further delay.
- Cover All Patient Touch-Points based on the Patient Health Condition – Hospital management very well know each health condition requires a separate diagnostic pattern. The healthcare provider should be aware and streamline the patient flow in such a way that all the touch-points are covered based on the health condition before moving the patient to a different department. Pulling back a patient for any test or consultation will result in negative patient experience, which the healthcare provider should focus in a meticulous manner.
- Well Stated Patient Destinations and Flow Chart – It is important to have the infrastructure with clear and understandable signage. A clear blueprint of the hospital infrastructure stating which department located where along with the directions, avoid any sort of confusion within the reach. The waiting lobbies, consultation rooms, restrooms, diagnostic centres, cafeteria, pharmacy and billing section should be rightly placed and managed with clear signage.
- Parking and Other Hospitality Facilities – For every hospital infrastructure it is important to maintain a free traffic flow. Both emergency and non-emergency vehicles should be aligned appropriately and ensure seamless flow. The emergency vehicles should have easy access to reach the trauma care department and to the other diagnostic facilities.
In today’s increased peer competition era among healthcare practices, it is highly important for all healthcare dreamers to ensure proactive support and care while touching all the essential touch points that increase overall patient experience.
