Improving bed utilization using a pediatric discharge lounge

This article examines the establishment of the first pediatric discharge lounge in King Abdullah Specialist and Children’s Hospital(KASCH), a military university hospital located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This played a major role in a revised patient flow methodology. Using a Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) method to design, develop, test and implement this new concept, the discharge lounge was introduced. Following an initial pilot program, it has successfully achieved its second year of sustainability. It has been effective in reducing length of stay of 546.15 bed days through the introduction of a cost neutral strategy that has saved the organization a modestly estimated one million Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) equivalent to 364,096 United States Dollars (USD) using a sample size of (n=10,119). Patient and parent satisfaction was measured using a five (5) point Likert Scale (sample size n=150) with a positive experience/satisfaction score of 78%.