Rethinking patient flows in a changing healthcare system: a unified approach.

Abstract

Introduction: The management of chronic diseases poses a challenge to the National Health Service (NHS), but it can also offer an opportunity for a radical renovation of healthcare provision. To improve the appropriateness of healthcare settings, it is essential to adopt integrated approach in all healthcare settings.

Methods: This study was conducted at San Giovanni Bosco Hospital, in the area of the "Città di Torino" Local Health Authority, between June 2021 and December 2022. Its main goal was to manage hospital patient flows in an integrated manner in order to improve the efficiency of the entire healthcare system. The data were examined in terms of effectiveness in optimizing hospital flows.

Results: The data indicated that hospital outpatient activities can become more specialized by leveraging the greater technological potential that a hospital possesses. At San Giovanni Bosco Hospital, the hub of the "Città di Torino" Local Health Authority (ASL), differential patient pathways were established in order to enhance the efficiency of the entire system by deploying hospital staff in a community setting. Implementation of the Otorhinolaryngology pathway avoided the hospitalization of 249 patients, who would otherwise have added strain to the overall organization of the hub hospital, which is currently short of space.

Conclusions: A significant effort is needed in order to build an integrated network that provides patients with reliable and stable references. The approach adopted at San Giovanni Bosco Hospital resulted in an improvement in the use of both hospital and territorial facilities.