Mercy Health-Lorain partnered with Conduit Health Partners to implement streamlined patient transfer processes, which improved patient flow and efficiency, and increased admissions.
OPPORTUNITY:
Mercy Health-Lorain, a non-profit, full-service hospital in Lorain, Ohio, sought to improve patient flow in and out of its hospital.
THE NEED:
When it comes to patient transfers, a centralized process with timely care coordination is important to ensure patients receive the care they need, when and where they need it. Mercy Health-Lorain sought support in expanding its operational capacity, resources and expertise to deal with the complexities of patient transfers, and to implement improved transfer processes. Hospital leaders recognized the need for a customized, streamlined system that would expedite patient transfers while providing valuable data to help the hospital continuously improve its patient flow.
THE SOLUTION:
Mercy Health-Lorain partnered with Conduit Health Partners to implement a customized 24/7 patient transfer center model.
Comprised of health care leaders with strong operational backgrounds who understand the complexities of the patient transfer process, Conduit’s approach to patient navigation is built on reliable, data-driven strategies that focus on patients’ wellbeing and coordinating their timely, efficient transfer. Our team of health care professionals provided Mercy Health-Lorain the resources needed to help them coordinate patient care, improve patient transfers, and facilitate direct admissions. With a continuous evaluation of metrics, Conduit helped them realize ongoing results, including financial savings.
RESULTS:
Conduit analyzed Mercy Care-Lorain’s patient transfer data to develop customized analytics and processes so hospital leaders could easily and immediately identify opportunities to improve and implement processes to streamline patient transfers. Data was available frequently to allow for continuous evaluation and follow-up.
“This isn’t something you have to wait 6, 8, 12 months to see benefits; you can see benefits within the first month of putting this program in place,” said Edwin M. Oley, who was Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Health-Lorain at the time Conduit’s transfer services were implemented.
Conduit provided data on why patients were transferring out of Mercy Care-Lorain, and this information was used by hospital leaders who added services to accommodate patients so they would not need to transfer out of the hospital. In a very short period —Mercy Health-Lorain saw increased admissions, increased patient retention (fewer patients were transferred out of the hospital system, and significant financial savings.
“We began seeing pretty profound increases in our admissions, and our transfers out of our facility have decreased,” Oley said.
Make Improving Patient Flow in Hospitals Easier: Partner with Conduit.
Conduit was designed by health care operators for health care operators, and our team knows the right questions to ask and the right processes to implement to improve patient flow while alleviating administrative burdens from hospital staff members who should be spending their time on direct patient care. Although dedicating resources to the transfer process may require an initial investment, hospitals can realize immediate benefits to their patient flow—and patient and provider satisfaction—by partnering with Conduit Health Partners.
Why Choose Conduit’s Strategies for Improving Patient Flow?
As health care leaders, we understand the ever-changing health care landscape and offer customized, cost-effective, and time-saving solutions to help your organization improve care for patients.
Exceptional Engagement: We get to know your facilities, key resources, and those who are accepting patients based on the service line, patient diagnosis, and unit where the patient will be placed. Patients get timely access to high-quality care when every minute counts.
Nurse First Model: Conduit serves as the single access point for managing patient transfers with a centralized transfer communications system staffed 24/7 by registered nurses.
Data-Driven: Health care executives need data to inform strong strategic decisions for their organizations. Conduit’s daily, monthly, and as-needed analytics provides transparency to the transfer process and arms executives with the critical information they need to make physician recruiting, service line development, and operational improvement decisions. The who, what, how, when and why of transfers becomes clear, helping leaders drive organizational success. Using analytic strategies that focus on timely, efficient care, our team will expertly manage your patient transfers, direct admissions, or consultations 24/7 so that your team can focus on its most critical role: providing high-quality patient care.
Operational Excellence: With a keen understanding of the operational and logistical needs of emergency and inpatient departments, Conduit gives you peace of mind that your transfer processes are running smoothly.