RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, December 30, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ — At King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Riyadh, managing emergency department congestion has become a system-wide operational priority rather than a localized clinical challenge. Over the past two years, the hospital has focused on redesigning how patients move from emergency presentation to inpatient admission within a high-complexity care setting.
As a result of these efforts, the median time patients spend waiting for an inpatient bed after an emergency department decision to admit has been reduced significantly, declining from more than 13 hours in 2023 to approximately 3.2 hours by mid-2025. This improvement reflects a sustained operational shift rather than a short-term intervention.
The changes were driven by a comprehensive process reengineering program that examined the full patient journey, from arrival in the emergency department through discharge planning. Central to this work is the AI-enabled Patient Flow and Capacity Command Centre, which monitors real-time patient movement, identifies emerging bottlenecks, and supports proactive decision making before delays escalate.
Process redesign focused on aligning clinical pathways with performance data and operational indicators. The command centre supports this approach by flagging delays, issuing real-time alerts to responsible teams, and escalating unresolved constraints through defined management channels. This structure has shortened response times and strengthened accountability across departments.
Operational adjustments extended beyond the emergency department. New admission pathways allow selected stable patients to be admitted directly from outpatient clinics, reducing unnecessary emergency department utilization. Discharge processes were also streamlined through earlier discharge planning, faster medication reconciliation, and improved coordination across laboratory and radiology services.
These combined measures expanded effective inpatient capacity and improved throughput in a hospital environment where care is often resource intensive. With more than 1,500 beds dedicated to complex services such as organ transplantation, oncology, and advanced immunotherapies, sustained flow efficiency plays a critical role in patient safety and service continuity.
Building on this experience, KFSHRC is preparing to share operational insights with peer institutions through structured benchmarking, collaborative capacity planning initiatives, and hosted site visits focused on emergency and inpatient flow management.
KFSHRC ranks first in the Middle East and Africa and fifteenth globally among the world’s top 250 academic medical centers for 2025. It also holds the highest valued healthcare brand in Saudi Arabia and the region, according to Brand Finance 2024, and is listed by Newsweek among the World’s Best Hospitals 2025, the World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2026, and the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2026.
Riyadh
KFSHRC
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
