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Rising Length of Stay is undermining hospital flow
Length of Stay is a growing problem within hospitals systems – contributing to access block and restricting the flow of patients. For many patients, staying in hospital longer than they need is a determinant to their health with recovery shown to improve at home in familiar surroundings.
When Mater Private Hospital Townsville was looking at ways to reduce its Length of Stay for orthopaedic patients, they knew they needed a more effective way to communicate with patients to help prepare them for surgery and to recover better.
The orthopaedic team needed to find a way to improve the way patients were prepared for surgery while reducing the administrative burden on staff.
A digital solution to streamline the patient experience
Mater identified several areas for improvement including the need to improve patient communication and information sharing within clinical teams.
Partnering with Personify Care, the hospital piloted a Mater Accelerated Joint Replacement (MAJR) digital patient pathway for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery.
Patients went from receiving information about their surgery and recovery in different ways to accessing everything on the one platform relevant to their care pathway.
Proven Impact: Reduce length of stay and improved patient outcomes
The introduction of digital pathways at Mater Private Townsville produced measurable results:
Reduced length of stay
Mater’s aim was to reduce how long their 1200 ortho surgical patients remained in hospital after surgery and discharge them home when safe to do so. They have achieved a LOS from 5 days to under 2.
With the new digital pathway, communication and planning means patients are more prepared for surgery and for their recovery. Clinical teams also have the information they need to prepare patients safety for discharge.
Improved patient experience
The digital pathway has improved patient outcomes and experience with patients reporting they feel better informed and satisfied with their experience. The pathway means there is:
- Increased opportunities for patients to self-manage
- Greater connection with community care providers
- Better post operative follow up care
When developing the pathway, the multidisciplinary team put together a series of educational videos for patients to watch.
“The patients absolutely love it, because they see the physio videos before they actually get the surgery done. So they practice those exercises before they come in. Then they’re stars at it once they go home,” says Sophie Watson, Mater’s MAJR Program Physiotherapist.
Improved care outcomes
Digital questionnaires are now given to patients before, during and post-surgery to help teams monitor progress, complete PREMS and record PROMS data.
This allows for the screening of any red flags, provide patient education (like exercise videos and how to manage swelling) and allow the sharing of personalised information (e.g to clarify medications).
As a result of better access to information, clinical risks have reduced and re-presentation for patients is only at 1%.
Made life easier for administrative and clinical staff
The pathway was designed to increase the flow of information and ability for monitoring on the one platform. The pathway now includes automated reminders, educational content, consent forms and symptom tracking.
Mater’s Allied Health Manager Gabrielle Dockray said the pathway also allows each surgeon to tailor the pathway, adapting to their preferred processes, information and tracking.
“The good thing about our digital offering is we can have multiple pathways for surgeons who have different protocols and needs. We’re able to adapt the pathway quite significantly to make it customisable and effective.”
Why digital pathways are important for surgical outcomes
The digital patient pathway piloted at the Mater Townsville Private site has made a significant impact to the 1200 patients who pass through the orthopaedic department each year. It has:
- Replaced manual processes and inefficient pre-surgical admission
- Better information sharing accessible on one digital platform
- Improved planning for both patients and clinical teams
- Enhanced post-surgery discharge and recovery
- Reduced Length of Stay.
See how the pathway helps to reduce the length of stay
Book a demo to explore how Personify Care can streamline elective surgery preparation across your sites.
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