(same subjects studied before and after treatment, no control group) (p. 2). The before and after treatment with no control group design will be used for this study to determine effects of the CS plan on time, cost, and patient and employee satisfaction.
Following the obtainment of study approval, data will be gathered by the Summative Committee. NCH has been measuring the amount of time it takes a patient to be admitted as an inpatient and in 2003 it was estimated that this time is four hours. The pre-CS plan patient placement method, which was prior to January 2003, called for the assignment of a vacant bed as they became available to each patient needing admission to NCH. Time delays became apparent in this process; the time it took pre-CS for bed assignment was measured. For example, data reflected how patients were placed and identified barriers such as repeated phone calls, not reporting vacant beds timely to the Admitting office, and not matching staffing to patient census. This data was collected by the Admitting office at NCH with a designated group of admitting office employees 24 hours, 7 days a week. The same six employees gathered the data prior to t
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