Building patient volume through "runway" management.

unways" are not just for airports. At Long Beach Memorial Medical Center (LBMMC) and its subsidiary. Miller Children's Hospital, both of which occupy the same campus in Long Beach, CA, keeping the "runways" clear for patient admissions has increased volumes by more than 160 patients per day and net income by 700 percent. Senior managers, who arc these hospitals' chief "traffic controllers," devised the "runway" plan in late 2002. With census falling below expectations and physicians voicing frustration at admitting processes, the managers rook action. The management team examined three major points of entry for LBMMC, a 541-bed adult hospital, and Miller Children's, a 198-bed pediatric facility: the admitting department, the emergency department, and the processes for transferring back capitated patients who were hospitalized out-of-network. At each they saw major bottlenecks. Working with many hospital departments, they began the process of clearing these three important "runways" to the hospital.