Lesson+2+Solutions+Identified

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26056315/

Using the Excel spreadsheet that the doctor uses to analyze and record weekly patient data related to the pneumonia process, our group added the data collected from patients that were over the 6 hour limit. We decided to look at several data points to see if there was a specific point(s) where lag occurs and causes the breakdown of the process.

The data points looked at were:
 * Patient Age
 * HIV status
 * Mode of Arrival
 * Neurological signs
 * Patient's Chief Complaint
 * Day of the week
 * Who the attending doctors were
 * Patients Arrival time, triage time, MD evaluation time, time it took to go to a certain ER zone
 * X-Ray processing time(ordered, verified, testing, completed, preliminary results, final results
 * Antibody order time, time when the antibody's were given to the patient
 * Their initial pneumonia screening diagnosis
 * Vital signs

Once the data was gathered, it was clear that some of the data had no meaning on whether or not patients receive antibiotics in under 6 hours. The data that had no meaning was the patients HIV status, mode of arrival, neurological signs, the day of the week, who the attending doctors were, nor the triage time. Most of the patients seem to be over age 30, but no evidence shows as to how age could be a factor.

After initial analysis, several time differences could be a factor. These problem areas are:
 * between arrive time and treatment zone
 * between treatment zone and MD evaluation time
 * between X-ray is verified and testing time
 * between X-ray is completed and preliminary results
 * between X-ray preliminary results and the final result
 * between Antibody ordered and given to patient

The solutions identified are:
 * Benchmarks for each checkpoint of the pneumonia process. This would allow a more detailed look into what breaks down, or what is causing stress on the process as a whole.
 * Tighter vital signs criteria for the process. This could decrease the chance of misdiagnosis from the start where the nurse checks the pneumonia screening
 * Due to the re-education of the staff which has led to 100%, one solution could be to have "training days" for the staff to emphasize the importance and consequences of not meeting their goal.

Waiting at a hospital is commonplace, but just how long are people waiting? According to the article above, the average ER wait time is around 1 hour, almost a 50% increase of 38min over the past decade. While waiting is commonplace and can't fully be stopped, identifying the places where waiting is the longest and most critical can help hospitals be more efficient and help more patients, increasing health care for all.

Works Cited: "Average ER waiting time nears 1 hour." //Associated Press// (2008): Web. 22 Nov 2009. .