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Improving the efficacy of rapid response operations in acute care delivery is of critical importance to improve patient safety and care quality. In this paper, continuous improvement methods have been developed to identify the bottleneck responses in rapid response operations. Specifically, the bottleneck response for decision time (BN-τ) and its variability (BN-cv), and response-time performance bottleneck (BN-rtp) have been introduced, and bottleneck indicators based on the data collected on the hospital floor have been developed. To illustrate the applicability of the method, a case study at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The number of potentially preventable hospital deaths in the US is astonishingly high. To improve patient safety and reduce hospital mortality, rapid response teams have been developed and implemented to provide a quick evaluation and treatment to patients with clinical signs of deterioration. In this paper, we present a preliminary study on modeling and analysis of the rapid response process in acute care delivery. Specifically, such a process is modeled as a complex network with split, merge and parallel structures. An analytical model is developed to evaluate the mean and variability of the decision time in the system, as well as the probability that such a decision is made within a desired time interval. In addition, system theoretic properties are investigated to provide directions for performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Medication prescribing in paediatrics is complex and compounded by the need to provide age and weight related doses, and errors continue to be problematic. Electronic medication systems (EMS) can reduce errors through dosing calculators and computerised decision support. However, evidence on costs and benefits of these systems is limited, particularly in paediatric hospitals. This paper presents the development of a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) framework to assess the impact of an EMS implementation in a paediatric tertiary hospital. An innovative component of the framework is the incorporation of the impact of the effects of the EMS for both the health system as well as for patients and their wider family networks, allowing a net social benefit assessment. We describe the impact of non-clinical out-of-pocket costs of admission and use discrete choice experiments to measure both medication related harm and the importance of medication safety to families and members of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]