Patient Process Mapping at the Emergency Department in Humber River Hospital: A Case report

Introduction: Benchmarking, a powerful management approach for implementing excellent practices at the best cost and quality, is a recent concept in the healthcare system.
Aim: The ultimate goal of this research project was to describe and map patient care-flow process  at the Emergency Department (ED) in the Humber River Hospital (HRH) as a benchmark and the first full digital hospital in Canada. The motivation of the researcher to select the ED as a research territory was the existence of a massive model and benchmark ED with four zones.
Methods: This study was a cross-sectional, case report study. The population under the study was the staff who worked in the ED and were willing to participate in the research study. Informed written consent was obtained from the participants in the study. Several interviews were done to approve the validity of the questions with care providers that were co-investigators. Then, Staff in the ED were interviewed to get an understanding of the terminology and classifications used in the ED.
 Results: The hospital was designed and built on three core principles; Lean, Green and Digital. It uses the best possible technology to support hospital delivery, such as dynamic and smart glass, Ascom phone (connects to Humber Information System and Electronic Medical Record), smart bed technology; robotic technology for certain surgical procedures; automated laboratory processing; automated guided vehicles that deliver medical supplies; and bedside computer screens that allow the patients to control their environments.