Hospital Reduced Emergency Department Length of Stay By 20% With GLSS
Florida
Healthcare
Patient Care
20%
- The problem: A hospital’s emergency department was experiencing long wait times of an average of 240 minutes. This slowed down care and made it harder to admit new patients.
- With GLSS’s Green Belt Training & Certification, they improved patient care and sped up the process, reducing the length of stay (LOS) from 240 minutes to 190 minutes—a 20% reduction.
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Emergency Departments (EDs) are often the busiest and most stressful places in any hospital. They’re where quick decisions save lives—and where even small delays can have big consequences. At one hospital in Melbourne, Florida, long ED wait times were creating challenges for both patients and staff.
The hospital’s Emergency Department had an average LOS of 240 minutes, much longer than ideal. These delays created overcrowding, slowed down care, and made it harder to admit new patients. Staff were overwhelmed, and patients often waited too long to get care.
In the world of healthcare, these types of bottlenecks don’t just impact the numbers—they affect real people and their outcomes. With increasing pressure to do more with limited resources, the hospital needed a solution that could boost efficiency without sacrificing care quality.
Determined to improve patient care and speed up the process, the hospital launched a focused improvement project. They partnered with GLSS Green Belt Training & Certification, which teaches the powerful DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) approach to solving tough process problems. With a certified project leader at the helm, the hospital team was ready to dig into the data and create a better system. Their goal? Reduce the average length of stay in the ED and create a smoother, more responsive patient experience.
Guided by the GLSS methodology, the team got to work analyzing what was slowing things down. Here’s what they uncovered:
- Diagnostic results weren’t reviewed in real time, which led to patient care delays.
- Staff couldn’t easily chart patient updates because the existing system was outdated and clunky.
- The hospital was mid-way through a system upgrade, which created confusion and slowed documentation.
- Communication gaps between team members caused missed opportunities to move patients forward in the process.
- Budget limits restricted the ability to add more staff during busy hours, increasing the strain on existing employees.
Each of these issues contributed to the long ED stays—but together, they painted a clear picture of what needed to change.
With their findings in hand, the hospital team made a bold move. They transitioned from the outdated information platform to the Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, which offered a faster, more user-friendly way to handle charting and test results.
But they didn’t stop there. With support from GLSS, they:
- Trained staff on how to use the new system effectively
- Streamlined daily routines to reduce unnecessary steps
- Improved internal communication to ensure real-time updates
- Built-in change management support to ease the transition
These targeted improvements helped remove delays and set the team up for long-term success.
The impact was immediate and impressive. The Emergency Department’s average LOS dropped by 20%, from 240 minutes to 190 minutes. This meant:
- Faster care for patients
- Quicker bed availability
- Less stress for staff
- Lower rates of patients leaving without being seen
- A noticeable improvement in patient satisfaction
Beyond the numbers, the department also saw softer wins like improved morale, better compliance with standards, and a stronger reputation in the community.
with GLSS
This project is proof that the right training and tools can spark real transformation. GLSS Green Belt Training & Certification gave the hospital a practical, easy-to-follow roadmap for solving a complex challenge, and the results speak for themselves.
With a smoother process and faster patient care, the Emergency Department is now better prepared to deliver high-quality service, handle higher volumes, and respond quickly when it matters most. Thanks to GLSS’s innovative instructional design and results-driven training, the hospital isn’t just catching up—it’s leading the way forward.
*We value our clients’ confidentiality. While we’ve changed their names, the results are real.
