SUCCESS STORY
Optimizing capacity with SDD
A heart center allows patients to recover at home
Key facts
partner
St. Antonius Hospital Utrecht/Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
From 45% to 85%
PCI elective SDD increase
From 0 to 60%
Device patient SDD increase
From 0% to 80%
Ablation SDD increase
Overview
As the patient population grows and ages, healthcare systems are facing capacity pressures as well as staffing challenges. At the same time, they must maintain quality of care while managing ever-tightening budgets. A same-day discharge (SDD) approach has the potential to free up hospital beds and other resources while improving the care pathway for cardiac patients undergoing certain procedures. SDD also has the potential to increase patient satisfaction by enabling patients to continue their recovery more quickly from the comfort of their own homes.
The hospital & heart centre
St. Antonius Hospital has multiple locations in and around Utrecht, and is one of the leading hospitals and heart centers in the Netherlands. Its Heart Centre is a leader in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, performing more than 7,000 Cath Lab interventions (in 5 Cath Labs) and more than 2,800 operating room procedures annually. Medtronic Integrated Health Solutions (IHS) has worked in strategic partnership with the hospital on various efficiency and optimisation solutions over the last seven years.
The 6 success factors
By identifying gaps in the success factors, and using the following five-step approach, they were able to close those gaps, enabling the Heart Centre to begin moving procedures to SDD:
1
Set up and planning:
To kick off the project and identify roles.
2
Data driven analysis:
To understand and analyze, understand the current situation, map the current and desired care pathway, and determine preferred status of preconditions.
3
Process redesign:
To confirm objective, develop new processes, and make plans for implementation phase.
4
Process implementation:
To pilot and test new procedures with a focus on monitoring and maintaining quality; to inform staff, patients, and referrers of the implementation timeline, and implement measures based on priority.
5
Sustain and scale:
To measure and sustain results, reinforce change, and plan for added procedures
The Heart Centre already had a Heart Lounge, which is a post-procedure recovery area designed to enhance patient comfort, so IHS designed the process around this infrastructure.
The Heart Centre began moving procedures to SDD in phases, beginning with PCI, then ablations, then device implantations. The process took about a year to allow for the steep hospital learning curve that typically accompanies each procedure. This phased approach also had the advantage that, over time, it increased staff’s willingness to change.
The impact: for the hospital
By the end of the program, the Heart Centre was able to reinforce its positioning as a leading cardiac centre of excellence. It also increased the number of patients going home within the same day, with comparable clinical outcomes and complication rates, while maintaining quality and patient experience:
The impact: for patients
SDD improved patient comfort, enabling them to return home earlier, which increases patient satisfaction.
We already knew that our PCI patients appreciated going home the same day. After implementing SDD for ablation and device patients, we collected feedback from them. The score of 8.8 (out of 10) shows that our patients are really satisfied with their treatment at the Cardiolounge”— Cardiolounge Manager
What the hospital is saying:
“By discharging patients home on the same day after a pacemaker implantation, we provide good and safe care, which allows us to treat more patients.”
Electrophysiologist
“With IHS, we were able to move our cardiac procedures to same-day-discharge, ensuring the highest level of safety for our patients, which is our priority.”
Heart Centre Manager
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