A STUDY OF DISCHARGE PROCESS WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON REDUCING THE WAITING TIME IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Dr. N. Lakshmi Bhaskar; Dr. K.T. Reddy; Dr; Komal Uppal

Volume : VI, Issue : VIII, August - 2016

A STUDY OF DISCHARGE PROCESS WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON REDUCING THE WAITING TIME IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Dr. N. Lakshmi Bhaskar, Dr. K. T. Reddy, Dr, Komal Uppal

Abstract :

OBJECTIVES: To study flow of discharge process in Narayana General Hospital. To study the bottlenecks in the discharge process resulting in delays. To identify measures to reduce the discharge time. To suggest measures to improve bed availability by decreasing discharge time. METHODS: The material available in concerned areas are gathered on day to day basis for study include the discharge summaries on regular basis feedback from patient and staff of various departments and ward through pre tested question is obtained. The discharge process was observed for one week to find out the working pattern and the process in the inpatient services department and to identify the time delay by discussing with the staff of the department by questionnaire method. RESULTS: The patients overall experience about the discharge process of the Narayana hospital, 30% opined as excellent, 20% very good, 25% opined as good, 15% of patients opined as average and the remaining 10% was opined as poor. Overall 75% Patients are satisfied with the discharge process. CONCLUSION: Majority of the questions about discharge process revealed that the patients in the study hospital are happy. Hospital administrator with his operations team can develop Benchmarks for each important activity to reduce the delays. The smooth discharge process will improve patients satisfaction. If all the stumbling blocks are addressed, the delays in discharge process is curtailed and patient satisfaction will be improved.