Torrance Memorial Medical Center - Success in Action

Founded in 1925 by Jared Sidney and Helena Childs Torrance, Torrance Memorial is a 512-bed, nonprofit medical center established to provide quality healthcare services to the residents of the South Bay, Peninsula and Harbor communities in Torrance, CA. Torrance Memorial also includes an extensive integrated system of physicians and comprehensive medical services across the care continuum. In 2018, Torrance Memorial affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center under the
umbrella of Cedars-Sinai Health System to further enhance access, coordination and quality of care, and to bring more expertise in the areas of neuroscience, cancer and heart failure to the communities of the South Bay. Torrance Memorial’s nursing program has earned coveted Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which recognizes nursing excellence. U.S. News & World Report also ranked Torrance Memorial as one of the best hospitals for 2017-18 in California and the Los Angeles metro area for the sixth year straight.

This case study can be found in the Summer 2018 Issue of TeleTracking's Patient Flow Quarterly Magazine. Download the full issue.

The team at Torrance Memorial operates with a set of core values designed to promote recovery and healing, and that means serving as many patients as possible.

Although Torrance Memorial previously had a patient flow committee to help increase capacity, driving sustainable change was difficult and the committee was dissolved in 2013. Despite the continued effort to work on access and throughput challenges — it turned out to not be an effective approach.

Specifically, the main capacity challenge related to discharging the right number of patients by 11 a.m. and the lost bed time due to  delays. In fact, in April 2017, only 80 patients/month were discharged by 11 a.m.