Emergency Department Operations or Layout—Which is the Trump Card in Improving Efficiency?

Sponsored by

Time and motion studies of the hospital work environment suggest that reducing the time staff spend walking between patient rooms, supply rooms, and staff charting workstations may translate into improved efficiency (throughput) and more time devoted to direct patient-care activities. This session presents the methods and results of a pilot study that evaluated the effect of three emergency department layouts (linear, pod, and ballroom) on one measure of staff efficiency—staff walking distance (distance per patient seen).  Our speakers will review case studies from the research illustrating the relationship between emergency department operations and layout will also be highlighted.

Participants will be able to:

• Discuss the impact of design on a critical measure of caregiver efficiency in the emergency department
• Show the relationship between walking distance per patient seen and the layout of an emergency department
• Develop design strategies based on case studies that will improve emergency department throughput
• Identify the major design strategies used in emergency department settings and how they affect staff walking distances