Implementing a ride share program for patient transportation home from a hospital admission.

Abstract

243 Background: This quality improvement project takes place within a large hospital, on a team that manages about 1700 oncology discharges per year. The hospital emphasizes the importance of discharging patients early in the day to encourage more efficient patient flow. On advanced medicine units within the hospital, 19% of discharge delays were reported as stemming from transportation issues related to family being delayed. Methods: A multidisciplinary group utilized a ride share company to implement a HIPPA compliant transportation program. Upon admission, each patient was screened for potential transportation barriers by a coordinator. Patients outside of a 35-mile drive from the hospital were excluded. Patients who expressed a concern about reliable transportation were offered enrollment. The patient completed a consent form, agreeing to be texted by the company with logistical information about their ride. At the end of the patient’s stay, the coordinator scheduled a “will call” ride within the vendor’s electronic system, which could then be activated by the patient via phone upon discharge. The coordinator tracked each patient’s barriers along with an estimated number of hours saved. Results: The average time saved per patient was 5.3 hours and, at peak, the average number of rides per month was 36. The estimated additional capacity created was 7.2 patients annually. About 14% of transportation barrier screenings resulted in a ride being scheduled. Of the patients that declined, 53% preferred to travel with family or friends, 28% were excluded due to distance, 10% were too ill to utilize the service, and 8% declined for other reasons. Conclusions: The intervention provided clear value to the institution and the patient, and the organization is now exploring a system-wide ride share transportation program. The team identified an untapped opportunity in using the program for admissions. Suggested patient populations for expansion include patients leaving the Emergency Department, those with fairly predictable lengths of stay, such as gastrointestinal surgery patients, and populations of relatively lower acuity since they are more likely to be well enough to get into their home without assistance. [Table: see text]