Managing patient flow using time buffers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine how and why theory of constraints based time buffer management has contributed to improved patient flow in health and social care applications.Design/methodology/approach – The focus of the research is on the application and implementation of time buffer management by QFI Consulting. Four UK hospital implementations of the QFI Jonah software and methodology were investigated to establish how buffer management was being applied and why the reported benefits were being achieved. This involved collecting service delivery data together with semi‐structured interviews. To support this evaluation, four control functions of time buffer management have been identified as a basis for evaluation of the application designs and their implementation.Findings – Case research evidence shows significant and rapid improvement in length of stay (LOS) following implementation of the approach, amounting to a reduction in LOS of over 20 per cent and significantly improved ac...

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