2023 Command Center Summit: Connected Care Delivery

Patients arrive at hospitals every day through different paths. Some through the emergency department, some through physician referrals, and some through scheduled procedures. What makes all of these situations similar is the fact that critically ill patients need access to care at the right place and the right time. At the same time, there are challenges when it comes to creating a culture of access. Health systems face growing capacity challenges and patient experience suffers when access is limited, or delays occur between transitions in care. Barriers include organizational silos, lack of continuity across care settings, and a lack of real-time operational visibility. For example, if someone needs acute, immediate care they would typically enter a health system through the ED or via a referral/transfer from another physician or facility, otherwise known as a direct admit. However, sometimes a direct admit isn’t that direct. Sometimes it ends up being fragmented, inefficient and time-consuming. And in some cases, it may take so long that the referring physician sends a patient to a competing health system. The result of these delays is lost revenue, a negative impact to a health system’s reputation, and a weakening of community physician ties. Another unfortunate scenario that can unfold when a health system can’t accommodate a direct admit is that patients may end up getting sent to the emergency room instead. That results in overcrowding and increases in left-without-being-seen.