2022 Quality Summit ePosters (Non-CE) - Chest Pain-MI Registry-4. Diving Deep into EKG Fallouts: A Process Improvement Plan

4. Diving Deep into EKG Fallouts: A Process Improvement Plan

Pdf Summary

The problem statement of this document is whether the layout of the Emergency Department (ED) and the implementation of a cardiac alert can improve the metrics for obtaining and reading electrocardiograms (EKGs) in a timely manner. The results show that after implementing the plan, the average time for obtaining EKGs increased from 47% to 62% over a three-month period. Each month showed an increase in obtaining EKGs within 10 minutes of arrival, with the third month reaching 80%. Similarly, the read time for EKGs increased from an average of 27% to 49%, with the third month reaching 57%. The conclusion states that the implementation of the plan, which included changing the ED layout and incorporating a cardiac alert, led to improvements in all metrics and increased awareness and seamless flow of the care process for patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) symptoms. The value proposition of this plan is that it not only improved EKG quality time metrics but also contributed to higher quality care for ACS patients. The methodology used was the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) model, and a multidisciplinary committee was formed to study the metrics and implement the plan. References to previous studies are included to support the effectiveness of the proposed changes.

Keywords

Emergency Department

layout

implementation

cardiac alert

electrocardiograms

EKGs

timely manner

obtaining EKGs

read time

care process