Extraction and Comparison of the Discharge Process in a Teaching Hospital

Background and Objectives: Lengthy discharge process is associated with delay in admitting new patients, increased waiting time, and extra costs of patient management. The aim of the present study was to develop a computational method for identifying discharge process pattern which can help reveal factors influencing the length of this process. Methods: A the fuzzy model of the hospital discharge process and the hospital workflow pattern was developed based on the most frequent patterns in the data and experts’ opinions. In the following, the dotted charts of the different sectors were extracted and analyzed using the process mining tools. Findings: After analyzing the dotted charts, the delayed segments on the pattern of the workflow were specified based on which a number of potential solutions to delayed discharge could be identified. Conclusions: It was revealed that the virtually all hospital departments are involved in the patient discharge process and thus to improve this process a holistic and systems view is required.