Lahey’s  huge suburban complex.

The Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, in Burlington, Mass., has a program to maximize patient-discharge efficiency that includes:

• Identifying suitable patients prior to admission for elective surgery, as well as emergency admissions who might potentially be good candidates for a 10 a.m. discharge.
• Recognizing early the day before that a patient will be discharged the following day and communicating the discharge time with the patient, family and nursing staff.
• Appropriately ordering tests and workups to prevent delays in the morning.
• Confirming the day before that transportation will be available by 10 a.m. the day of discharge

  To read an article on this program in Hospitals & Health Networks, please hit this link.