About this Presentation
In this presentation, we will show the results of the collaboration between a medical practitioner, Christopher Strear, and an academic, Danilo Sirias, proposing a practical approach to implementing TOC to improve patient flow. This collaboration started after Chris, without any TOC training (just reading the Goal), applied the 5FS to a hospital where inpatient lengths of stay were too long, and the ED was closed to ambulance traffic for 60 hours every month, on average, due to overcrowding. Within months of applying TOC to the hospital's system, they had virtually eliminated ambulance diversion. Their rates of patients who left without being seen rate in the ED fell sharply, and inpatient length of stay was reduced to levels below the national benchmark. This was accomplished during a devastating influenza epidemic, a period of record ED patient volumes, record ambulance traffic, and record numbers of admissions. Danilo found this case while doing a literature review of TOC cases in healthcare and contacted Chris. For years, they had many conversations about the potential applications of TOC to improve patient flow and the idea of writing a book was born. They recently published their work: Smash the Bottleneck: Fixing Patient Flow for Better Care. Video length: 59:20. PDF: 176 slides.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
Instructor(s)
Christopher Strear, MD, MBA, FACEP
Dr. Strear is a board certified emergency physician and Chief Medical Officer of Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon. Dr. Strear has led patient flow initiatives utilizing TOC applications at multiple hospitals and health systems with outsized results. He has co-authored the book "Smash the Bottleneck: Fixing Patient Flow for Better Care" with Danilo Sirias and published the first application of TOC in North America to an inpatient healthcare setting.