Wait times for cardiovascular procedures

International comparisons of waiting times for cardiovascular procedures.

Waiting times for important and resource-intensive cardiovascular procedures have become a popular index for assessing the degree of rationing of medical care that is perceived to exist within various nationally subsidized health care systems. Until the health care reform debate took a repose, pro tern, in the summer/autumn of 1994, the U.S. citizenry had been exposed to extensive coverage in t...

Unacceptable emergency wait times.

Performing all major surgical procedures robotically will prolong wait times for surgery

This article aimed to assess the burden of scheduling major urologic oncology procedures if all cases were performed robotically and to determine whether this would increase the time a patient would have to wait for surgery. We retrospectively determined the number of prostatectomies, radical nephrectomies, partial nephrectomies, and cystectomies at a single institution for one calendar year. A...

Advertising Emergency Department Wait Times

Advertising emergency department (ED) wait times has become a common practice in the United States. Proponents of this practice state that it is a powerful marketing strategy that can help steer patients to the ED. Opponents worry about the risk to the public health that arises from a patient with an emergent condition self-triaging to a further hospital, problems with inaccuracy and lack of st...

Improving Wait Times to Care for Individuals with Multimorbidities and Complex Conditions Using Value Stream Mapping

Background Recognizing the significant impact of wait times for care for individuals with complex chronic conditions, we applied a LEAN methodology, namely – an adaptation of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to meet the needs of people with multiple chronic conditions and to improve wait times without additional resources or funding.   Methods Over an 18-month time period, staff applied a patient-cen...