Emergency Departments (EDs) across the U.S. face rising strain from high patient demand, limited staffing, and the expectation to deliver fast, high-quality care. These pressures often produce overcrowding, long wait times, and lower satisfaction for both patients and providers. Research shows that such inefficiencies usually stem from "throughput" challenges, including delays in diagnostic testing, bed turnover, and staffing mismatches (Mostafa & El-Atawi, 2024).
At Cypress Bridge, we translate this research into actionable strategies for performance improvement. Our work targets four key performance areas identified in the literature (Mostafa & El-Atawi, 2024):
Reviewing occupancy levels, admission practices, and resource adequacy.
Reducing door-to-diagnosis times, shortening overall length of stay, and strengthening compliance with quality measures.
Decreasing avoidable readmissions and "Left Without Being Seen" (LWBS) rates, while safeguarding quality of care.
Improving the experiences of patients and providers alike.
By focusing on these dimensions, we provide measurable, evidence-based improvements that align with real-world hospital operations.
Implementation of fast-track pathways, advanced triage models, flexible staffing, and lean management principles.
Expansion of point-of-care diagnostics, standardization of care pathways, electronic health record (EHR) decision support, and telehealth.
Integration of predictive analytics, real-time bed tracking, and secure digital communication tools.
These approaches directly reflect best practices highlighted in recent performance improvement research (Mostafa & El-Atawi, 2024), but Cypress Bridge extends them through consulting expertise and technology deployment.
Mostafa, R., & El-Atawi, K. (2024). Strategies to Measure and Improve Emergency Department Performance: A Review. Cureus. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10890971