Advocating for Shorter Lengths of Stay: Thyroidectomies

<p>Background: The objective of this project is to assess the safety and feasibility of advocating for outpatient thyroidectomies when requested as inpatient. In short, we addressed the question of how to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs by encouraging physicians to perform thyroidectomies on an outpatient basis. The project was implemented in a prior authorization department consisting of nurses and physicians who reviewed elective and urgent procedure requests. Unit data analysis in conjunction with interviews from nursing staff were used to determine the need for this study. Methods: Various approaches were taken to meet the goals and objectives for this project. A high-level process map was created to understand and analyze the overall goal and aim. Results: A decrease of inpatient thyroidectomies was seen between the months of October and November of 2015 with the use of the decision tree to initiate a conversation with the provider who was requesting the inpatient thyroidectomy. A total of 2 thyroidectomies were performed as inpatient between those months compared to the twelve the previous month. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Level thesis:degree_level

Restricted Project/Capstone - USF access only

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Lim, Michelle

• Other Nursing

Repository record dc:identifier

https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/240

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.usfca.edu:capstone-1250