INTRODUCTION
Overcrowding of health care facilities and inefficient patient flow affect quality and timeliness of care,1 as well as patient satisfaction.2,3 The mismatch of supply and demand, often experienced in high-volume care settings, such as emergency departments (EDs) in developed countries, is amplified in medical facilities of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where they are burdened by a high volume of patients while coping with limited resources and staffing.
Overcrowding and inefficient patient flow at health care facilities affect the quality and timeliness of care, as well as patient satisfaction.
Patient Flow Analysis (PFA) is a quality improvement tool which can be used to help identify patient flow inefficiencies at any type of health care facility and inform areas for intervention to help improve care delivery processes.4–8 This low-technology methodology involves 2 important aspects: flow mapping—which provides a qualitative perspective of the process of care delivery, and cycle-time measurement—which provides quantitative data on time throughout the patient's entire care delivery process.9 Both aspects of PFA help investigators identify key constraints in flow as well as gaps in staffing and resources in the unique health care setting. Additionally, when arrival and throughput data are mapped to resource allocation, such as staffing availability, mismatches can be identified and can further inform reallocation or redirection of resources, or application of new resources. In the ideal setting, PFA is a part of a …