S1481 Impact of Time-Motion Patient Flow Analysis on the Productivity of an Endoscopy Unit in a Large Safety-Net Health Center

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health care delivery, particularly for high-volume procedural areas. To improve productivity in the Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center (LAC + USC) Endoscopy Unit, we initiated an iterative rapid cycle quality improvement process to identify inefficiencies and implement changes to our workflow. Methods: A time-motion analysis of patient flow through the LAC + USC Endoscopy Unit was used to construct a time-tracked flow sheet to track individual patients as they moved through the Unit. Data were collected weekly over 3 9-10 week phases, and intervening plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles were conducted to direct interventions for subsequent phases. Following phase 1 (9/1/21 to 11/9/21) we implemented targeted interventions at the start of phase 2 (12/1/21 to 2/1/22) and phase 3 (3/15/22 to 5/31/22). Phase 2 was focused on our anesthesia supported endoscopy room which requires greater resource coordination. Metrics were compared to published benchmarks. Linear regression was used to compare outcome parameters for the lean process flow improvement project. Results: Our phase 1 analysis showed operational delays in room turnover time for all procedures and pre-operative assessment and first-case on time start percentage for procedures supported by anesthesia, when compared to published benchmarks (Table 1). In phase 2 we implemented an intervention of combining pre-anesthesia visits with endoscopy teaching visits for patients designated to have anesthesia support. This significantly improved both turnover time and throughput for the anesthesia room (Table 1). In phase 3 we initiated a policy of preparing the first patient of the day in the procedure room which dramatically increased first-case on time start percentage. We further streamlined inter-procedure processes by simultaneously consenting, placing monitoring equipment and documenting in the time between procedures, leading to a greater than 20% increase in total procedure volume (Table 1). Procedure throughput for the anesthesia supported procedure room increased from 4.5 to 7 to 9 procedures per room per day for phases 1, 2, and 3 respectively (Table 1). Endoscopy Unit staffing remained unchanged throughout the study period. Conclusion: Time-motion analysis of patient flow may be used to perform targeted interventions with significant improvements in Endoscopy Unit efficiency. This may be achieved without costly interventions such as hiring additional support staff or faculty. Table 1. - Core Productivity and Efficiency Parameters of LAC+USC Endoscopy Unit Phase 1 FIRST INTERVENTION 12/1/2021: pre-anesthesia visit Phase 2 SECOND INTERVENTION 3/15/2022:First patient prepared in-room and streamlined inter-procedure processes Phase 3 Sep-2021 Oct-2021 Nov-2021 Dec-2021 Jan-2022 Feb-2022 Mar-2022 Apr-2022 May-2022 Total Procedures 539 556 450 511 467 501 504 647 612 Moderate Sedation 515 539 426 488 432 468 465 608 573 Anesthesia Supported 24 17 24 23 35 33 39 39 39 Mean Room Turnover Time (minutes - for anesthesia room) 45 (±40) 31 (±40) 30 (±24) First-Case On Time Start % (moderate sedation) 75.7% 78.3% 87.5% First-Case On Time Start % (anesthesia supported) 0% 0% 92.5% Anesthesia Room Throughput (mean # of procedures per day) 4.5 7.0 9.0