Untapped Potential for Emergency Department Observation Unit Use: A National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) Study.

Introduction: Millions of people present to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain annually. Accurate and timely risk stratification is important to identify potentially life-threatening conditions such as acute coronary syndrome (ACS). An ED-based observation unit can be used to rapidly evaluate patients and reduce ED crowding, but the practice is not universal.

An observation unit may help improve an institution's Press Ganey satisfaction score.

Background: : Hospitals measure patient satisfaction through Press Ganey (PG) surveys. The impact of an emergency department observation unit (EDOU) on patient satisfaction has not been reported to date. We hypothesize that an EDOU has a positive impact on patient satisfaction results as measured by PG surveys.

Enhancing OR capacity and utilization.

To make better use of existing operating room (OR) capacity--in terms of both facility space and staffing--Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock established a surgical services executive committee to strengthen performance improvement efforts. Initiatives included the following: Redesigning OR block scheduling Establishing agreed-upon performance metrics for the OR. Developing new processes for managing patients preoperatively.