West Tennessee Healthcare Slashes LWBS Rates, Generating 3x on Investment
High LWBS Rates Prompts Improvement Initiative
In the last few years, left-without-being-seen (LWBS) rates have been on the rise in nearly every emergency department (ED) in the United States. In 2019, the average stood at 2.7% nationally. Due to a variety of factors including the COVID pandemic, high patient volumes, and staffing shortages, this figure had risen to 4.6% in 2022.
West Tennessee Healthcare (WTH), a non-profit hospital system that serves a half million people in Western Tennessee and Southeastern Missouri, was no exception. In early 2023, the average LWBS rate across their seven EDs was 2.9%. While this was well below the national average, the hospital was concerned about the impact on patient safety, hospital revenue, and liability.
“While our LWBS rates have been fairly good compared to other hospitals, we knew we could do better by enhancing the way we communicate to patients,” said James Fountain, Vice President of Operations. “Communication in service of the relationship we have with our community members not only results in better health outcomes, it also increases patient loyalty.”
About West Tennessee Healthcare
Public, not-for-profit healthcare system
Serves 19 counties in West Tennessee and Southeast Missouri
1,237 hospital beds in 7 hospitals
185,000 annual ED patient volume
Impact at a Glance
36% System-wide LWBS Decrease
57% (Camden Hospital) Largest LWBS Reduction
3X Estimated ROI
Personalized Attention at Scale
In April 2023, WTH introduced Vital Emergency — a first-of-its-kind, HIPAA-compliant patient experience mobile app that provides patients with personalized updates and tools throughout their ED visit. During its first year in operation in WTH hospitals, Vital Emergency provided more than 80,000 ED patients with estimated wait times, facilitated service requests, and allowed patients to recognize hospital staff. Additionally, patients have been able to track their lab orders and access educational content relevant to their health condition or procedures directly through their cell phone.
The result was a 36% system-wide decrease in LWBS rates (from 2.9% to 1.8%). Each of their seven EDs saw a decrease in the first year, including a 44% decrease at North Hospital in Jackson and a 57% decrease at Camden Hospital, one of their most rural facilities.
Key to Success: Patient Adoption
Fountain says a key factor in their successes has been Vital Emergency's ease of use. Upon arrival, ED patients receive a text message with an invitation to a web experience driven by Vital’s interface with the hospital’s electronic health record (EHR). Because the app authenticates patients using EHR data, logging in requires no username and no password. This typically results in adoption rates that are 3X to 5X higher than traditional patient-facing apps.
When 62% of your patients are using your patient experience platform on average, you know something is going right. It’s rare to see adoption rates like this across all age groups, including our elderly patients in rural settings.” – James Fountain, Vice President of Operations
During this first year, WTH patients’ average rating of Vital Emergency was 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Expanding Capabilities for Continued Success
Driven by positive outcomes in their first year using Vital Emergency, WTH has implemented additional features to further personalize and enhance the patient experience. These include:
More sophisticated AI-driven tools for predicting wait times
Providing plain language lab results and enhanced interpretations of imaging diagnostics
Personalized discharge summaries that give patients actionable and tailored instructions, clearly highlighting the most relevant information for their specific health conditions