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Indicators & Change Ideas

Are you looking to improve the issues facing today’s health care system?

 

Explore the quality indicators being tracked by health care organizations in Ontario through Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) and change ideas to help improve them. Connect with others to share your experiences and ideas of your own.

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Emergency services indicators in the access and flow theme

Measuring emergency department (ED) length of stay provides information about not only care within hospitals, but also how well other parts of the health system are working. Some patients may spend a long time in the ED because inpatient beds are not available. The lack of available inpatient beds is often a result of other factors in the health system, such as patients not being able to leave the hospital for care in other places.

Indicator: Percentage of patients who visited the emergency department (ED) and left without being seen (LWBS) by a physician

This indicator measures the percentage of visits to the ED that result in the patient leaving before being assessed or treated by a physician.

Indicator: 90th percentile emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS)

This indicator measures the total time elapsed between the time of triage or registrations (whichever occurs first) and the time the patient leaves the emergency department.  This indicator will use the 90th percentile ED LOS as its evaluation metric.

Indicator: 90th percentile ambulance offload time (AOT)

This indicator measures the total time elapsed between the time of ambulance arrival at the ED and the time of the ambulance transfer of care process. This indicator will use the 90th percentile AOT as its evaluation metric.

Indicator: 90th percentile emergency department (ED) wait time to inpatient bed

This indicator measures the time interval between the disposition date/time and the date/time the patient left the ED for admission to an inpatient bed (or operating room).

This indicator will use the 90th percentile time to physician initial assessment (PIA) as its evaluation metric.

Key Resources

Change Ideas

Improve ED flow

Improve overall hospital flow

Avoid unnecessary ED visits

Emergency services indicators in the access and flow theme

Measuring emergency department (ED) length of stay provides information about not only care within hospitals, but also how well other parts of the health system are working. Some patients may spend a long time in the ED because inpatient beds are not available. The lack of available inpatient beds is often a result of other factors in the health system, such as patients not being able to leave the hospital for care in other places.

Indicator: Percentage of patients who visited the emergency department (ED) and left without being seen (LWBS) by a physician

This indicator measures the percentage of visits to the ED that result in the patient leaving before being assessed or treated by a physician.

Indicator: 90th percentile emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS)

This indicator measures the total time elapsed between the time of triage or registrations (whichever occurs first) and the time the patient leaves the emergency department.  This indicator will use the 90th percentile ED LOS as its evaluation metric.

Indicator: 90th percentile ambulance offload time (AOT)

This indicator measures the total time elapsed between the time of ambulance arrival at the ED and the time of the ambulance transfer of care process. This indicator will use the 90th percentile AOT as its evaluation metric.

Indicator: 90th percentile emergency department (ED) wait time to inpatient bed

This indicator measures the time interval between the disposition date/time and the date/time the patient left the ED for admission to an inpatient bed (or operating room).

This indicator will use the 90th percentile time to physician initial assessment (PIA) as its evaluation metric.

Key Resources

Change Ideas

Improve ED flow

Improve overall hospital flow

Avoid unnecessary ED visits