Waiting Room Microsystem

In order to improve this microsystem, wait times must be decreased so that more patients will be triaged and seen by a doctor within 30 minutes and that the nurse to patient ratio is no more than one to four. In order to achieve this objective more medical staff will be hired which will include medical assistants, nurses and physician assistants. There will also be designated areas separating patients by the severity of their illnesses and injuries.
The waiting room will have three designated areas. There will b an area for patients who have serious illnesses and injuries that require immediate medical attention, an area for patients whose illnesses and injuries are moderate, and an area for patients whose illnesses and injuries are minor. Medical assistants will be hired to work at the front desk where patients register, they will be in charge of triaging patients. The medical assistants will determine and assess the severity of each patient’s symptoms after they register and direct them to sit in one of the designated areas in the waiting room. They will be trained by a group of nurses on how to assess and determine the severity of a patient’s illness or injury. This change will ensure that patients are triaged immediately after they register and as a result patients will be seen and treated in a more …show more content…
With a high volume of patients, it is necessary to have a process that ensures that care is delivered in a timely manner. Due to the high wait times, Mr. Rivera was never seen by a doctor and died of a heart attack while waiting in emergency waiting room. His death was caused by a flaw in this microsystem. The microsystem must be changed to fix this flaw and reduce the occurrence of patient deaths like Mr. Rivera’s. The changes discussed in the improvement plan will help decrease wait times and make the emergency room a high performing