On Friday, December 14, the Office of Interprofessional Simulation partnered with leadership from the new Gardendale Freestanding Emergency Department to test patient flow processes through a “Day in the Life” simulation. This event was referred to as a “Day in the Life” simulation because the focus was to test the facilities and patient care processes that would occur on any given day at the new facility. Approximately 115 participants attended the simulation in various staff, patient, or observer roles designed to collect feedback and uncover any potential latent safety threats that may exist in the new space. These participants included representatives from all professions who will provide care or operational support in the new Gardendale FED, including registration, billing, pharmacy, IT, HSIS, lab, radiology, supply chain, infection prevention, patient safety and more. The simulation tested approximately 32 different patient scenarios that included a mix of adult and pediatric patients and were designed to test specific care processes. Standardized patients and observers were tasked with moving through the facility from admission to discharge (or transfer), gathering feedback from the unique perspective of a patient or family member in order to gauge patient experience.

The event yielded over 500 narrative comments from participants through a combination of surveys and collaborative debriefing focused on six main categories: Environment, Equipment/Supplies, Education/Training, Communication, Staffing, and Wayfinding. These comments and survey results have been shared with the Gardendale FED and UAB Facilities leadership groups in order to prioritize the final adjustments needed before the grand opening on January 15, 2019.

Explore the 360° time-lapse of the simulation below.