Improving Quality and Safety in the Endoscopy Unit (On-demand)

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The discussion session focused on improving efficiency and patient experience in endoscopy units, emphasizing on-time procedure starts, bowel prep quality, and equitable scheduling. To ensure timely starts, some units have staff arriving early to prepare patients and rooms, with continued feedback and accountability for physicians. Incentives, both financial and team-based, help promote punctuality. Patient satisfaction is benchmarked nationally, and employee experience is assessed through surveys and individual follow-ups fostering open communication.<br /><br />Bowel prep adequacy is both a patient and system responsibility. Variations in prep quality can indicate areas for improvement, whether due to communication, prep instructions complexity, or socioeconomic factors impacting patients' ability to comply. Techniques like simplified instructions, reminder calls, and text messaging improve adherence. Differences across hospital and ambulatory sites may reflect variations in scoring, prep types, and patient populations.<br /><br />Equity in scheduling highlights disparities, where proactive patients may secure faster appointments. Solutions include prioritizing urgent indications and structured scheduling segments for diagnostics versus screening.<br /><br />Finally, fostering a culture receptive to change is vital. New staff with fresh ideas should be listened to and engaged in continuous improvement efforts, building trust and collective ownership of process enhancements. Leadership relationships and open communication channels support these goals. The session underscored that quality improvement requires teamwork, adaptability, and persistent evaluation.

Asset Subtitle

Moderator: Brian C. Jacobson, MD, MPH, FASGE

Keywords

endoscopy unit efficiency

patient experience

on-time procedure starts

bowel preparation quality

equitable scheduling

patient satisfaction benchmarking

communication strategies

quality improvement teamwork