Council Connect Articles

Hospitals Reduce APOT in Sacramento Area

Who

  • Sacramento area hospitals 
  • Sacramento County Emergency Medical Services Agency (SCEMSA) 
  • Sacramento area fire departments and private emergency medical services providers

What

On Oct. 10, SCEMSA held the second Ambulance Patient Offload Time (APOT) Summit of 2024, celebrating significant progress in reducing APOT in Sacramento.  

At the first event, held in February, SCEMSA focused on patient care problems created by high APOTs and the need to reduce times for the sake of both patients and providers, as well as to comply with Assembly Bill 40. At the time, Sacramento had the highest APOT in California.  

SCEMSA gathered on Oct. 10 to celebrate the dramatic APOT improvement in recent months. Across the SCEMSA system, APOT dropped from 73 minutes in December 2023 to 39 minutes in September 2024. The hospitals in SCEMSA’s service area now average shorter APOTs than 12 other regions in the state. During the summit, two of the hospitals with the greatest improvement (Kaiser Permanente Roseville and Dignity Health Mercy San Juan) shared the practices that led to their success, such as modifying workflows and changing the culture of the emergency department.

Takeaway/Next Steps

None.

Contact

RVP Brian Jensen at bjensen@hospitalcouncil.org