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Welcome back to Today in Health It where we explore the latest developments in healthcare information technology. I'm Sarah Richardson, and joining me as always is Kate Gamble. Today we're diving into compelling article titled What Will It Take To Curb Ed Boarding? Good morning, Kate. I.

Hi Sarah, so I love this topic.

Let's first establish the magnitude of the problem. Ed boarding isn't just an inconvenience, it's a significant patient safety concern. Overcrowded eds can lead to delayed treatments, increased medical errors, and higher mortality rates.

Absolutely, because also according to the article, ed boarding has been a long standing issue exacerbated by factors like the pandemic and staffing shortages.

So it's crucial for healthcare leaders to recognize that this isn't a temporary challenge, but a systemic one requiring strategic intervention. And I'll share that as well. Having hall beds. Ed holds the two midnight rule. The ED has always been a space that gets crowded quickly and managing the flow of the ED is a constant conversation that.

Technology executives are typically a part of,

yeah, and it's just a bad situation. we've heard stories, we've seen photos of people lined up in the hallways and it's not good for anyone. So this article highlights several strategies proposed during the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, A HRQ summit to address ed boarding.

And one notable recommendation is the establishment of public reporting and standards around ed boarding, including thresholds by hospital size, and required reporting on capacity management plans and denied transfer requests.

Transparency can and often does drive accountability by publicly reporting, boarding times, and capacity issues, hospitals may be more motivated to implement effective solutions and also allocate resources appropriately.

So another proposed solution is the development of real-time regional bed tracking systems to improve inter-hospital transfers. So this concept mirrors the coordination centers established during the pandemic to manage patient loads effectively.

Implementing such systems would require robust health.

IT infrastructure interoperability between hospitals and the real-time data sharing are critical to ensure that patients are transferred efficiently to facilities with available capacity.

So the summit also discussed the need for payment incentives to encourage hospitals to adopt practices that reduce ED boarding. And this could involve adjusting reimbursement models to re reward. Efficient patient flow and penalize prolonged boarding times.

Policy changes at both federal and state levels may be necessary to implement these incentives.

If you're a health IT leader, you should be prepared to adapt your systems to accommodate new reporting requirements and also ensure compliance with new

And another point the article made was. Emphasizing the importance of finding alternatives for patients in the need of psychiatric services, who often experience extended boarding times due to limited inpatient psychiatric beds.

And just from interviews I've done in the past that extended time, we're talking hours, which for somebody with a psychiatric condition is a nightmare. It

is. And telepsychiatry and Virtual behavioral health services could play a significant role here because if you're leveraging the technology appropriately, we can provide timely psychiatric evaluations and interventions, which also potentially reduces the need for inpatient admission, which then alleviates some of the ED congestion.

So if we think about what this means for health IT professionals. First and foremost, there's a clear need for enhanced data analytics to monitor patient flow, predict bottlenecks, and optimize resource allocation

a hundred percent and interoperability is key. Health systems must facilitate seamless data exchange between departments and across institutions to support these initiatives like regional bed tracking and coordination of care.

There's also an opportunity to innovate with AI and machine learning. Those topics come up a lot, but this is a really practical and important use. So predictive analytics can help anticipate surges in ED visits, which allows hospitals to proactively manage capacity and staffing. I.

This goes back to Kate, the conversations we have at our events where it's not like you're trying to figure out where to put AI in your organization.

You have a problem you're trying to solve. In this case it's your ED capacity management. You can start to use some of those algorithms to help you solve for that and the importance of user friendly and. Interfaces. Clinicians need to have intuitive systems that are supporting efficient workflows, especially in high pressure environments like the ed.

So having your interface team on deck to be able to work with your data teams appropriately starts to create a path to success in this space.

So ED boarding, it's a complex challenge that requires collaboration across clinical, administrative, and technological domains. And of course, we can't forget, this is a huge patient satisfaction issue. Health IT leaders are uniquely positioned to drive change by developing and implementing solutions that enhance patient flow and care delivery and can lead to better outcomes.

We encourage you to reflect on your current systems and your processes. Are there opportunities to improve data sharing, implementing predictive analytics or adopting virtual care solutions, engaging with your teams, your board, your peers on these topics is crucial step towards meaningful improvement.

Yeah, it's a great point and one thing I'm curious about is how hospitals. Are currently leveraging technology to alleviate ED boarding, are they making full use of data-driven solutions like predictive analytics to anticipate patient flow and optimize bad management? And I also wonder how effectively virtual care options are being integrated to reduce non-urgent visits to the ed.

Is there room for more collaboration between inpatient and outpatient settings to create smoother transitions of care? So it's really important for health IT leaders to think critically about these challenges. How can we align better technology with operational strategies to make a meaningful impact on patient flow and reduce sporting times?

You and I have covered in the past urgent cares and different settings of care that can also alleviate some of that burden and really understanding that footprint within your geography and access to care, which again, can keep people outta the primary ed and only doing transfers as appropriate and necessary, tons to keep aware of in this space.

And always glad that we get to cover some of the most relevant topics that are happening in our universe today. And that's it for today's episode. Join us tomorrow when we discuss Philadelphia Health Systems Launch Antitrust lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield. Remember to share this podcast with a friend or a colleague.

Use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the 📍 topics that are relevant to you and the industry. They can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Kate, thank you for joining me and thanks for listening. That's all for now.