Reducing Emergency Department Walkout Rates with Strategic Locum Tenens Coverage
How are your hospital emergency department’s Leave Without Being Seen (LWBS) rate?
This is an important ED performance indicator because it directly impacts patient care as well as hospital revenue.
A high LWBS also indicates potential problems with the department’s resource allocation and efficiency.
Top hospitals across the country are discovering that using locum tenens ED pros strategically during peak patient loads can reduce LWBS rates dramatically.
Bonus for the hospital? Improved patient satisfaction scores
A clear connection between ED staffing levels and LWBS rates
ED wait times naturally increase when the number of patients exceeds staff capacity, leading to frustrated patients who could decide to look for care somewhere else.
Emergency department visits tend to spike during weekend evenings, Monday mornings and at times such as “flu season.”
Analyzing your facility’s historical LWBS data, you can find these important windows where your patient population requires additional ER physician coverage.
Doing so with just one locum ER physician during your emergency department’s busiest times could mean that “as many as 30-40 more individuals can be seen without delay… .”
Not every locum staffing firm looks at LWBS reduction strategically
The key to staffing an emergency department when staff is most needed lies with working with a locum recruiting firm that uses a data-driven approach to ED coverage.
An experienced locum recruiting partner should be able to give you a thorough analysis of your facility’s emergency patient flow patterns and then provide you with recommendations regarding scheduling.
It also should keep a network of board-certified ER physicians who have the talent and experience to integrate easily into your ED team during such high-volume/high-stress periods.
Steps to reduce your LWBS rates
- Start tracking hourly patient arrival patterns/current wait times over a month-long period.
- The locum recruiter will study the data and identify your facility’s particular peak patient demand periods and build a custom locum staffing solution for your busiest times.
Such a target method will improve patient satisfaction while also providing the greatest return on your locum staffing investment.