Methodist Dallas Medical Center Emergency Department

Dallas, Texas

Methodist Dallas Medical Center’s emergency department had faced the lowest patient experience scores since before the COVID-19 pandemic for several reasons: increased volume, higher acuity, and slow throughput times due to congestion on the inpatient units. The team leaned into the idea of creating a separate “Fast Track” intended to expedite the lower acuity patients’ care, decompress the waiting room, and improve the overall patient experience in the ED.

Clinical staff and leaders used their expertise in ED patient flow and patient experience practices to make many recommendations for the new care area, including workflow optimizations, a separate waiting area, hours of operation that aligned with peak flow times, and a separate supply stock to minimize foot traffic for staff.

Within two months, Top Box scores soared from the 29th percentile to the 99th, a true indicator of the quality care patients receive in the ED. The creation of Fast Track re-routed how lower acuity patients navigate through the ED. The Fast Track also significantly improved the patient experience of the higher acuity patients who are treated in the main ED due to decreased wait times and expedited turnaround time in triage.