Methodist Midlothian Medical Center Emergency Department

Midlothian, Texas

Despite record-breaking volumes, the Methodist Midlothian Emergency Department team reduced patient length of stay and wait times. The department has focused on improving its front-end workflow by turning waiting periods into active diagnostic phases in its efforts to combat rising wait times. One key strategy is the utilization of nurse-driven protocols, which, in collaboration with physicians, allow nursing staff to initiate labs and imaging while the patient waits to see a physician. Through these efforts, the emergency department saw a 10-15 percent reduction in overall length of stay.

Another positive impact of the changes to the front-end workflow is a decrease in patients who left without being seen. The ED team worked with the hospital construction department to renovate an underutilized space in triage to create an additional space where patients can see physicians in triage and receive their treatments. This was paired with the creation of a results waiting area where patients stay pending results of labs or imaging, helping to optimize patient flow and improve throughput. These efforts successfully decreased the left without being seen percentage to a record low 0.8 percent.