Strengthening Hospital Capacity for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implementation of Electronic Patient Discharge

Background: Increasing hospital capacity to cover the service demands is an important priority during an epidemic or a pandemic. The aim of this study was to increase hospital capacity using the Six Sigma method to improve the patient discharge process. Methods: This was a quantitative study. The Pr...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of Research & Health 2021-10, Vol.11 (5), p.305-312
Hauptverfasser: Sabethosseini Dokht, Mohaddeseh, Yousefi, Mehdi, Hedarian Miri, Hamid, Fazaeli, Somayeh, Ebrahimipour, Hossein
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Background: Increasing hospital capacity to cover the service demands is an important priority during an epidemic or a pandemic. The aim of this study was to increase hospital capacity using the Six Sigma method to improve the patient discharge process. Methods: This was a quantitative study. The Pre- and post-intervention study was conducted in a big hospital designated for COVID-19 patients. The patient discharge process was evaluated and improved based on seven sub-processes and following the Six Sigma model, including defining the problem, measuring time in each of the discharge stations, analysis times and process, improvement process, and control. Results: Implementation of the electronic patient discharge led to a 51.9% decrease in discharge time from 7.3  h during the pre-intervention period to 3.8 h post-intervention (P
ISSN:2423-5717
2423-5717
DOI:10.32598/JRH.11.5.1802.1