Fast-Track a Minor Injury

Fast-track is the ED’s rapid lane for the minor stuff — sprains, small lacerations, simple ailments — patients who are low acuity and can be seen, treated and sent home quickly without tying up a majors bay. Putting a patient on fast-track flags them on the board so the fast-track clinician knows they belong to that stream.

Who / when: the ED nurse or ED physician routes a low-acuity patient (typically ESI 4 or 5) into fast-track, usually straight after triage or while working the board. We follow Grace Okoro streaming a patient with a minor laceration.

1. ED nurse — open Emergency → Bed & Zone Board and find the low-acuity patient’s card.
2. ED nurse — press “Fast-Track” on the card. A Fast-Track pill appears on the patient and the fast-track clinician can pick them up.
3. ED physician — see and treat the patient in the fast-track lane, then take them straight to disposition — most fast-track patients are discharged.
4. ED nurse — if a fast-track patient turns out to be sicker than expected, press “Exit Fast-Track” to take them back into the main flow (and reassess their acuity).

Note

The first time a visit enters fast-track, Veona captures the fast-track fee once — taking the patient out and back in does not re-bill.

Tip

A dedicated Fast-Track zone exists on the bed and zone board, so you can also place fast-track patients into their own physical area with “Move”.

What happens next

Fast-track patients move quickly to a disposition, most often Discharge — which settles their charges into one bill and produces the visit summary and any take-home prescription.

Follow the trail

• Previous: Work the Bed and Zone Board
• Next: Hold a Patient in the Observation Unit
• Related: Triage a Patient by ESI Acuity · Disposition a Patient