Fast-Track Registration: A Way to Increase Efficiency in the IR Division.

Purpose: To evaluate changes in patient registration process at an academic 2-suite IR Division to determine if moving registration from the waiting room to the vascular holding area decreased amount of time patients spent in the Radiology Department and improved start times.

Materials And Methods: A data collection sheet was created by evaluating patient-related processes; event timestamps were recorded on the sheet. The control group consisted of 33 patients who registered using the traditional process. The fast-track group consisted of 29 patients who bypassed the traditional registration procedure and were registered by nurses in the vascular holding area.

Results: Total time between control and fast-track groups significantly decreased from an average time of 215 minutes to 178 minutes (P = .020). The average start time improved significantly from an average of 63 minutes after scheduled procedure start time for the control group to 33 minutes after the scheduled procedure start time for the fast-track group (P = .009). Start time (P = .022), time spent in recovery area (P = .006), and total time, after correcting for differences in laboratory test turnaround time, (P = .010) decreased in variability after implementation of fast-track registration.

Conclusions: Implementing fast-track registration for outpatient subcutaneous port placement in the IR Division improved start times and decreased total time patients spent in the hospital, while also reducing variability in the process.