Patient flow refers to the management and movement of patients in a healthcare facility. To evaluate and improve aspects of the patient experience and the quality of healthcare services, healthcare institutions utilise patient flow analyses (Solutions 2009; Pines et al. 2007; Wennberg 2004; Litvak 2004; Asplin, Flottemesch and Gordon 2006; Baker et al. 2009; Fieldston et al. 2011; Derlet, Richards and Kravitz 2001; Fieldston et al. 2014). Public demand for increased quality coupled with the pressure to do more with less, as previously shown in section 2.1, has led healthcare organisation management teams to re-evaluate their operations strategy (Ballé and Regnier 2007). In fact, the importance of patient flow management has been acknowledged
