Rethinking patient flows in a changing healthcare system: a unified approach

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Keywords

Hospital
patient flow
appropriateness

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Chronic diseases are a challenge to the National Health Service (NHS) but they can also offer an opportunity for a radical renovation of healthcare provision. It is essential to adopt organizational solutions with an integrated approach in all healthcare settings, improving the appropriateness of healthcare settings.

METHODS: This study was conducted at the San Giovanni Bosco Hospital,  in the Local Health Authority “Città di Torino”, between June 2021 and December 2022.  Its main goal was to manage hospital patient flows in an integrated manner to improve the efficiency of the entire healthcare system. The data were examined in terms of effectiveness in optimizing hospital flows.

RESULTS: Hospital outpatient activities should be more specialized, by leveraging the greater technological potential that a hospital possesses. At San Giovanni Bosco Hospital, the hub of the Local Health Authority (ASL) “Città di Torino”, pathways were established with the goal of dividing patient flows to enhance the efficiency of the entire system, involving hospital staff in a community setting. The Otorhinolaryngology pathway resulted in avoiding the hospital admission of 249 patients who would otherwise have added strain to the overall organization of the facility, with current space shortages, given its role as a hub.

CONCLUSIONS: A significant effort is needed to build an integrated network where patients can face with reliable and stable references. The experience of San Giovanni Bosco Hospital represent an improvement towards optimal usage of both hospital and proximity structures.

https://doi.org/10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2024.65.2.3138
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