Intouch With Health Webinar: Optimizing Patient Flow Beyond Hospital Walls To Tackle The Patient Backlog and Improve Access To Care Featuring: University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
This webinar provides an overview of how University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust initiated a first-of-its-kind outpatient project that has led to a reduction in their patient waitlists.
About The Webinar
Elective care waiting lists are at an all-time high. Healthcare organizations in Canada and abroad were facing systemic pressures, especially within Outpatient & Ambulatory services, well before the rise of COVID-19 and pandemic-driven staffing shortages only exacerbated the problem. However, these events have also provided a catalyst in support of rapid digital transformation and a genuine shift toward ‘smart’ healthcare, with interoperability at the core.
Like many hospitals around the world, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust was struggling to clear a significant backlog of patients. With staffing shortages and waitlists exceeding 112,000 patients, Dorset faced significant pressures across its acute hospitals and required a solution that could be stood up rapidly to address the crisis.
In 2021, Dorset had undertaken an unconventional approach to address their backlog of patients by extending outpatient & ambulatory services beyond the walls of the hospital. They created the Dorset Health Village Outpatient Assessment Clinic, a shopping centre that was converted into a remote clinic to tackle the backlog and ensure patient care was being prioritized. By leveraging technologies like VitalHub's Patient Journey optimization platform, they've been able to set a new standard of elevated patient care and safety in an expedited manner.
Key Takeaways From the Webinar:
How end-to-end, real-time oversight of the patient journey through a centralized dashboard can support coordinated and efficient patient flow, improve operational efficiencies, and reduce administrative burden.
How allowing patients to self-check-in, register, and navigate throughout the hospital or clinic via kiosk or mobile saves time for both patients and staff, while simultaneously improving accuracy of patient information.
How staff are able to book patient activities and tests in advance of their arrival at the hospital and create pre-planned workflows to optimize clinical time.
How the partnership between the vendor and the buyer was optimized to collaboratively address the waitlist backlog.