Decreasing Time in ICU & Time to Mobility in Cardiothoracic Surgery (CTS) Patients by Adam Andruska
Cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) patients require highly coordinated care by numerous services in the intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery. Complications in this time period increase morbidity, are costly, and significantly increase time spent in the ICU. We set out to shorten the time between cardiothoracic surgery and the patient ambulating with physical therapy as a marker for appropriate patient progress. Delays in time to ambulation after surgery reflect both patient complications and systems issues preventing progression. Our goal was to improve the percentage of patients ambulating on postoperative day one from 60% to greater than 70%.
“I Wanna Go FAST!” Reducing Time to Advanced Imaging in Pediatric Musculoskeletal Infections by Elad Nevo
For patients with osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, or pyomyositis, increased time from ED presentation to performing advanced imaging (MRI) can delay diagnostic and therapeutic orthopedic procedures (i.e., bone biopsy, joint aspiration, etc.).
SEEing More Patients in the OR at the Byer’s Eye Institute by Nicole Choo
Many patients at Byers wait months for surgeries despite the fact that some OR rooms are only partially utilized every week. It minimizes patient dissatisfaction, maximizes OR utilization, and keeps our providers schedules full.
Improving Surgical Site Infections: Warming One Patient At a Time by Dominique Watt
Despite having Surgical Site Infection Prevention bundles in place, there is a recent increase in Standardized Infection Ratio (SIRs) for colorectal patients in SHC. A recent discovery that OR room temperatures are not consistently in range which may potentially impact maintaining patient body temperature above 36 C.
Cancer Center South Bay Real Time Location System Badge Retention by Jacque McCoy
Cancer Center South Bay requires a minimum of approximately 200 Real Time Location System badges per day based on a unique patient volume of approximately 300. Several times a week we do not have the required number of badges in circulation, and this has a negative impact on patient care and the patient experience.
Optimizing General Inpatient Hospice at Stanford Healthcare: Neuroscience Pilot by Tovah Kohl
Our group tried to increase GIP hospice referrals for the neuroscience service lines, which improves patient care and provides the patient and family with increased resources. This problem was chosen because during COVID, the number of GIP patients drastically decreased.
Reducing Unproductive Visits for Thyroid Cancer Patients – Kaniksha Desai
The Problem:Patients with thyroid cancer were often arriving for their follow up visits without necessary labs or imaging leading to an unproductive visit. This information would need to be reviewed at a later time asynchronously with the patient, leading to delays in treatment and inefficient workflow. As we sought to understand the different causes of this problem, we prioritized having a […]
Reducing Cost to Patients With the Use of Tracheostomy Durable Medical Equipment – Kristi Norris
For our team’s CELT project, we had to implement the use of a new product and process within a multi-disciplinary team. It was an interesting experience navigating the wide variety of stakeholders, their needs, and the process nuances. Learn how we did it successfully!
Cut to the Chase! – Jake Mickelsen
Cut to the Chase! I am sure we have all heard this phrase when someone is asking us to get to thepoint. Although it can feel pushy and somewhat disrespectful at times, is itvalid? Especially when presenting improvement work? The saying originated from silent films and was thought to be coined by American film director […]
