Analyse de la gestion des flux de patients en hospitalisation classique en Wallonie : comparaison des différentes pratiques et identification des axes d'amélioration

Abstract

Patient flow management is a major challenge for hospitals, which must respond to high demand for care while facing limited resources and capacity. In this context, better coordination of patient pathways is essential to ensure the quality of care and optimize the use of available resources.

This thesis analyses patient flow management in conventional inpatient care across eight hospitals in Wallonia. It aims to compare current practices, identify the main barriers and facilitators affecting patient flow and the implementation of improvement strategies, and propose areas for improvement adapted to the realities observed in practice.

To achieve these objectives, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals involved in patient flow management. The results show that all hospitals have coordination mechanisms in place, although their organization, level of centralization and use of data vary. Several common difficulties also emerged, including delayed discharges, siloed working practices, inefficient processes and resistance to change.

At the same time, hospitals already have several facilitating factors in place, such as structures dedicated to patient flow management, coordination meetings, structured processes and support from hospital management. Based on these findings, four main areas for improvement are proposed, strengthening collaboration between departments, improving discharge planning, making better use of data to manage patient flows, and providing greater support for change.

This study therefore shows that improving patient flow does not depend solely on the number of available beds, but also on the overall and coordinated management of capacity, processes, information and the various stakeholders involved in the patient pathway.