Emergency Department Coordination
CAREFUL is a coordination platform for clinical teams, used in emergency departments. In a busy ED, the answers to "what's happening now, what's happening next, and who is responsible" change minute by minute. CAREFUL manages patient flow, task allocation and inter-team referrals in real time.
CAREFUL is a coordination platform for clinical teams, used in emergency departments. In a busy ED, the answers to "what's happening now, what's happening next, and who is responsible" change minute by minute. CAREFUL manages patient flow, task allocation and inter-team referrals in real time — replacing whiteboards, paper lists and bleeps with a single shared view.
At Withybush Hospital, CAREFUL contributed to a 50% reduction in patients waiting in ED within four weeks, with referral time dropping from 22.5 minutes to under 1 minute.
ED coordination is a core application of the post-EMR coordination layer.
The problem
ED crowding is a symptom of poor downstream coordination. Patients wait not because there are no beds, but because no one can see the whole picture. The ED refers patients to the medical take, to specialties, to SDEC. Each referral is a phone call or a bleep — interruptive, untrackable and invisible to the rest of the team. The flow coordinator knows something was referred but not whether it was accepted. The patient waits.
How CAREFUL solves it
Digital referrals from ED to the medical take and specialty teams replace phone calls and bleeps. Each referral is a structured record: visible to both sending and receiving teams, with accept/reject status, a conversation thread and push notifications.
Flow coordinators see every referral and its current status on a single dashboard. Patients waiting for review are visible. Bottlenecks are obvious. Escalation happens before harm, not after.
Task allocation across the department works the same way: every action has an owner, a due date and team visibility. Shift changes transfer all open tasks to the incoming team. Nothing is lost.
Quantified outcomes
- At Withybush Hospital, CAREFUL contributed to a 50% reduction in patients waiting in ED within four weeks.
- Referral time at Withybush dropped from 22.5 minutes to under 1 minute. Referrals QIP →
- 98% of CAREFUL users in independent surveys report improved patient safety.
Frequently asked questions
What is ED coordination software?
ED coordination software gives emergency department teams a shared, real-time view of patient status, referral progress and task assignment. CAREFUL replaces whiteboards, paper lists and bleep-based referrals with a single digital plan visible to every team in the department.
How does CAREFUL reduce ED wait times?
At Withybush Hospital, moving ED referrals to CAREFUL contributed to a 50% reduction in patients waiting in ED within four weeks. The mechanism: structured digital referrals replaced phone calls and bleeps, giving teams instant visibility of referral status and eliminating the time spent chasing.
Can CAREFUL replace whiteboards in ED?
Yes. CAREFUL provides a shared digital board showing patient location, current status, outstanding actions and referral progress — accessible on mobile and desktop, updated in real time. Unlike a whiteboard, it is visible to every team simultaneously, including those off the floor.
Does CAREFUL integrate with ED clinical systems?
CAREFUL integrates with EPR and PAS systems via FHIR and HL7v2 ADT feeds. Patient demographics and admission data sync automatically. CAREFUL can work alongside existing ED information systems.
Is CAREFUL used in NHS emergency departments?
Yes. CAREFUL has been deployed in NHS emergency departments including Withybush General Hospital (Hywel Dda University Health Board), where it contributed to a 50% reduction in ED wait times within four weeks.