One of our scribes wore a pedometer.
She walked over 6 miles each shift.
Six miles of chasing the doctor.
Six miles of chasing the chart, the order, the nurse, the patient.
We focus on process improvement.
Reduce the number of steps.
It doesn't make sense to have the same physician take care of patients in beds 1 and 43.
You can't see bed 43 from bed 1.
There is a different nurse.
A different tech.
A different secretary.
It's a long walk. Many steps.
It's like having a barista work the same shift at 2 different Starbucks. Just across the street from each other.
"Did you hear that order for the half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a twist of lemon?"
Nope.
"Did you know they couldn't get a line or draw bloods on that patient in 43?"
Nope.
They tried to call you, but you were doing a procedure in 1. Then they did a procedure in 42. Now it's an hour later. Nothing's done.
You can't see through walls. You can't answer every phone call. You can't eyeball the treatment result of the patient in room 1 from room 43. You can't.
One of our physicians said, "I like the walk from 1 to 43. That's how I get my exercise." That's an exercise in futility.
We aim to have the nurse, the tech, the physician, the chart and the patient walk the fewest steps for each patient visit. We want each care team to control one space.
See more patients. In less time. With fewer steps.
How many Starbucks do your baristas cover in one shift?
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