Marie E Ward, Barry Kennedy, Sharon O'Hara, Susie O'Callaghan, Una Geary, Fiona Keogan, Declan Byrne, Bláthnaid Mealy, Ricardo Paco, Joe Deegan, Shadan Kahatab, Jennifer Sheerin, John Drought, Conor MacDonnchadha, Cormac Kennedy
{"title":"Improving Communication and Coordination in Medical Ward Rounds: A Quality Improvement Initiative in an Acute Teaching Hospital.","authors":"Marie E Ward, Barry Kennedy, Sharon O'Hara, Susie O'Callaghan, Una Geary, Fiona Keogan, Declan Byrne, Bláthnaid Mealy, Ricardo Paco, Joe Deegan, Shadan Kahatab, Jennifer Sheerin, John Drought, Conor MacDonnchadha, Cormac Kennedy","doi":"10.52964/AMJA.1005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Medical ward rounds are essential to support care delivery, however a lack of multi-disciplinary team rounding may have a knock-on effect on care coordination and may lead to delayed discharges and increased length of stays.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The aim of this study was to improve patient outcomes by improving communication and coordination surrounding medical ward rounds through bringing disciplines together during medical ward rounds or at post-round operational huddles. The primary outcome measure was to improve the number of patients discharged by noon.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>At the end of the study there was no impact on our primary outcome measure. Efforts for improvement were redirected from the micro- to the meso- and macrosystem of the organisation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>While developing this complex project, we found reforms at a macrosystem of how care is provided are needed including ward-based care. Reforms must balance system resilience and efficiency while ensuring 'slack' in the system to support communication, relationship building and coordination of care.</p>","PeriodicalId":39743,"journal":{"name":"Acute Medicine","volume":"24 1","pages":"35-48"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acute Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.52964/AMJA.1005","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Medical ward rounds are essential to support care delivery, however a lack of multi-disciplinary team rounding may have a knock-on effect on care coordination and may lead to delayed discharges and increased length of stays.
Methods: The aim of this study was to improve patient outcomes by improving communication and coordination surrounding medical ward rounds through bringing disciplines together during medical ward rounds or at post-round operational huddles. The primary outcome measure was to improve the number of patients discharged by noon.
Results: At the end of the study there was no impact on our primary outcome measure. Efforts for improvement were redirected from the micro- to the meso- and macrosystem of the organisation.
Conclusion: While developing this complex project, we found reforms at a macrosystem of how care is provided are needed including ward-based care. Reforms must balance system resilience and efficiency while ensuring 'slack' in the system to support communication, relationship building and coordination of care.
期刊介绍:
These are usually commissioned by the editorial team in accordance with a cycle running over several years. Authors wishing to submit a review relevant to Acute Medicine are advised to contact the editor before writing this. Unsolicited review articles received for consideration may be included if the subject matter is considered of interest to the readership, provided the topic has not already been covered in a recent edition. Review articles are usually 3000-5000 words and may include tables, pictures and other figures as required for the text. Include 3 or 4 ‘key points’ summarising the main teaching messages.