Inspira Medical Center – Vineland Emergency Department
Vineland, New Jersey
Inspira Medical Center – Vineland Emergency Department
Despite high ED volumes —nearly 70,000 visits in 2024—the Inspira Medical Center-Vineland Emergency Department team successfully implemented initiatives that reduced the number of people leaving without treatment and better met the needs of unhoused patients.
Flow nurses were incorporated to manage patient discharges and oversee throughput, reducing overcrowding and unnecessary wait times. The ED also
implemented medical screening examinations in the waiting room and during triage. These exams enable providers to begin evaluations early and identify patients with urgent needs more quickly. These initiatives resulted in a left-without-treatment rate of 3.0 percent by the end of 2024, down from 5.1 percent in 2023.
To improve care and outcomes for unhoused patients, a question about homelessness was added to the triage form, along with the follow-up, “Would you like to be connected to services?” if indicated. When a patient answers affirmatively, a social work consult is automatically triggered—a simple intervention that led to a 12 percent increase in consults for homelessness in just one quarter. The team also worked closely with local shelters, housing services and warming centers to provide outreach and prevention for those who are most vulnerable.
Flow nurses were incorporated to manage patient discharges and oversee throughput, reducing overcrowding and unnecessary wait times. The ED also
implemented medical screening examinations in the waiting room and during triage. These exams enable providers to begin evaluations early and identify patients with urgent needs more quickly. These initiatives resulted in a left-without-treatment rate of 3.0 percent by the end of 2024, down from 5.1 percent in 2023.
To improve care and outcomes for unhoused patients, a question about homelessness was added to the triage form, along with the follow-up, “Would you like to be connected to services?” if indicated. When a patient answers affirmatively, a social work consult is automatically triggered—a simple intervention that led to a 12 percent increase in consults for homelessness in just one quarter. The team also worked closely with local shelters, housing services and warming centers to provide outreach and prevention for those who are most vulnerable.