Discharge Before Noon

Abstract

Hospitals throughout the country are experiencing patient flow issues. It is common for many emergency departments to be congested leading to patient flow issues. Although much efficiency has been gained in patient flow processes in the emergency departments, without bed availability on the medicine/surgery floor, it is very difficult to improve emergency department patient flow. One of the tools being trialed by hospitals is the concept of “discharge before noon”. This premise is based on the assumption that hospital patient flow on the medicine surgery floors can be made more efficient if an increased number of patients being discharged are sent home earlier in the day. The concept of discharge before noon seems like a very logical premise, but there may be some structural process issues with this premise. This article will discuss the premise and possible structural process faults associated with the discharge before noon construct.