Froedtert Emergency Department

Improving Door-to-Doc Time with Research

One year after opening, we conducted research to benchmark against the design goals at the Emergency Department. The results speak for themselves. The length of stay for patients was reduced by 23 percent. The rate of patients leaving without being seen was reduced by 83 percent. Staff collaboration increased, with daily huddles centered at the core of communication to keep the learning ongoing. How did we get here?

In 2005, the Froedtert Emergency Department’s Triage was operating at capacity.  To better understand the current state, Froedtert and HGA used Lean principles to analyze several aspects of the operations to inform a new phased renovation. After months of research, analysis, and ideation, the design solutions included a new Emergency Department entrance, separate from the original shared entrance with Children’s Hospital, an increased number of patient exam rooms  with support spaces to see more patients, incorporation of a continuous care area to improve door-to-doc time, adjacent 14-bed patient observation area to help free-up exam rooms, and reduced patient wait time. The remodeled and expanded 41,650 SF Froedtert Emergency Department opened in 2016 at a cost of $19,600,000.