Authors (including presenting author) :
Law KY(1), Kwong MK(1), Hung S(1), Ng P(1), Lee H(2)
Affiliation :
(1) Key members in KCC nursing workgroup on inter-hospital transfer, (2) Information Technology Department, Kowloon Central Cluster
Introduction :
The complex patient transfer network in Kowloon Central Cluster (KCC) involves concurrent multiple hospital request paths among 2 major acute hospitals and 4 convalescence rehabilitation (CR) hospitals. The workflow is used to involve many fax, phone calls and manual intervention for request submission and subsequent bed allocation. The burden is further worsened during winter surge.
Objectives :
1. To enhance efficiency of patient transfer workflow through an one-stop solution 2. To provide real-time & transparent information on bed demand/supply 3. To better utilize available CR bed 4. To facilitate the clinical handover process among nurses and eliminate unnecessary phone calls and fax
Methodology :
A working group among KCC nursing colleagues and Information Technology (IT) Team was formed in 2018 to study an optimal model for the Patient Transfer Request System (PTRS) development to manage the concerned workflow. The IT system was rollout by phases from 2019 to 2020. The current system is a single portal for acute and CR hospital staff to manage multiple hospital requests in a consolidated view. The system can support automatic request matching and bed allocation in CR hospital based on patient type and bed availability, concurrent request queuing in multiple CR hospitals for individual patient, management of unfulfilled requests as next day transfer, etc. Different dashboards and reports are available to show the real-time bed demand/supply status and transfer number breakdown. The system is further extended to hospital’s supporting service department to facilitate prompt NEATS transportation arrangement.
Result & Outcome :
The system is now the one-stop platform to manage patient transfer in KCC involving more than 4800 end-users, mostly nurses. On average the system is handling more than 3000 transfer requests per month. Around 62% of accepted cases are fulfilled by system’s automatic bed allocation mechanism. The system has streamlined the workflow with reduced manual efforts, maximized the CR bed utilization and enhanced continuity of care through smoothening the clinical handover process. The dashboards and management reports from the system are supporting the day-to-day operations in QEH Command Center to support critical decision making.
