Situation
Many major medical centers operate in a state of permanent bed gridlock, in which individual clinical services exert control over beds, with a decentralized system of holding beds for institutional transfers.
The consequence: limited ability to coordinate transfers and bed assignment.
In this case, a 24/7 access center is an essential element for tertiary and quaternary centers to fulfill their destination mission.
Background
The ability to schedule transfers with one call and immediate connectivity is an essential element of a high performance destination hospital. Features should include:
24/7 availability, featuring human contact with a professional who has the ability to connect with specialist physicians in a matter of minutes, and the ability to schedule ground or air transport, bed assignment and ED bypass.
This can only be accomplished if all involved parties embrace the vision that access is critical, “no” is not an option for patents and physicians in need, and service response is understood to be mission-critical.
Execution
• The concept of bed management and “ownership” was accepted as an institutional, not departmental, prerogative.
• A physician “bed czar” reporting to the C-Suite reinforced institutional ownership.
• The launch of the Access Center was planned and executed using national models as a reference point.
Results
The Access Center now facilitates 600+ transfers a month.
No patients are refused and transfers are managed regardless of payer.
The positive contribution margin of these cases reinforces the potential for positive growth and tertiary/quaternary cases.