From Missouri and Arkansas to California and Florida, COVID-19 cases again are increasing. More patients are again requiring hospitalization, and ICUs are filling up. In Springfield, Missouri, public health officials have requested funding for an alternate COVID-19 care site because of dwindling hospital capacity. Arkansas health experts predict doubling of COVID hospitalizations by August. And, in Florida, Jacksonville-area hospitals have begun canceling some elective surgeries as hospitalizations increased 23 percent in a single day.
This surge is happening at a time when hospitals across the country are experiencing workforce shortages and an increase in individuals seeking behavioral health care in their emergency departments. Data from numerous surveys show the toll of COVID-19 on individuals’ behavioral health with more Americans reporting anxiety, depression, substance use, suicide ideation, and stress-related symptoms than before the pandemic.
We know the outcomes of this scenario. ED overcrowding, worse patient outcomes and increased mortality, and clinician burnout.
XFERALL can help.
Hospitals using XFERALL have the tools and resources necessary to manage this perfect storm of challenges. Using XFERALL’s automated patient transfer network, hospital teams are able to:
Reduce ED length of stay and improve throughput to create additional capacity
Identify clinically appropriate resources/facilities for patient transfers
Reduce patient transfer times to reduce ED overcrowding
Maximize existing capacity
XFERALL empowers health care systems and providers to quickly identify medical and behavioral hospitals with the capacity and capability to accept patients for transfer. The XFERALL technology automates the patient transfer process, creating less work for the health care provider and improving emergency department capacity by reducing transfer times. Over the last two years, even during the pandemic, we have reduced patient transfer times by 86 percent.
Contact XFERALL to see how we can help your emergency departments more efficiently manage acute medical and behavioral health patient transfers.