Improving patient flow in a complex health care environment requires more than isolated fixes – it demands shared visibility, disciplined follow-up and strong accountability across teams. Over the past year, MOVE Huddle has emerged as a powerful tool to support these goals, expanding significantly and driving meaningful operational alignment.
Originally adopted from Rush Oak Park Hospital, MOVE Huddle was implemented to create a structured forum for communication and action planning. Its purpose is simple, but impactful: improve transparency, facilitate follow-up and support both immediate and long-term action plans.
MOVE huddle takes place every weekday, Monday through Friday, at 9 am. Each department updates a shared spreadsheet before the huddle, and a rotating moderator — selected from the leadership team — facilitates the discussion. During the huddle, key metrics are reviewed, areas that are not meeting goals are identified and opportunities for improvement are discussed. Team members leave the meeting with action items, designed to drive progress and motivate throughput throughout the day.
MOVE Huddle was developed at the medical center in response to challenges that could not be solved within a single unit. Reducing “Left Without Treatment” rates in the emergency department and decreasing length of stay on both surgical and medical units required a multidisciplinary approach.
Without shared situational awareness, opportunities for improvement were difficult to identify. MOVE Huddle created a consistent structure where teams could align around challenges, escalate concerns and strengthen accountability with the goal of improving patient throughput.
Implementation of the MOVE Huddle resulted in significant improvement in the elapsed time between the ED discharge order to admission to acute and intensive care units.
