Capacity management improvements in bed assignment and workflow
A large non-profit academic medical center and Level 1 trauma center in the northeast asked Philips to help improve daily patient placement. High patient volume was taxing existing bed control management, with bed assignments being handled in an inefficient, decentralized fashion. Philips assigned a seasoned consultant as executive interim leader to lead an engagement which included in-depth analysis of existing procedures and application of industry best practices. As the engagement concluded, the consultant together with hospital stakeholders agreed to a new set of key performance indicators (KPIs) and the medical center worked to put into place new procedures and processes to realize capacity improvement. The identification of potential discharges aided in the appropriate prioritization of beds, adding significantly to bed availability.
As a result of the engagement, the medical center was able to:
A three-pronged focus on process improvement
The consultant partnered with hospital leadership to explore strategies to improve organizational flow and bring all involved stakeholders to the table – nurses, clinicians, and physicians. Workflow analysis, on-site observations, and stakeholder interviews were conducted with the intent to redesign roles and responsibilities, create new processes, and develop new implementation tools. Defined as improvements in People, Process, and Technology, the engagement took a three-pronged approach. A summary of initiatives is as follows:
People
Process
Technology
People The Philips consultant initiated three daily staff huddles to make certain everyone involved was ‘on the same page’ – to reduce variability. Close, ongoing collaboration between staff, with active involvement in admissions, discharges and transfers, now supports productivity goal accountability for each unit. Process Lacking a formal hand-off process during shift changes or for report sharing, the consultant developed a comprehensive chronological workflow for bed control – a day in the life – to detail all the substantive touchpoints required over the course of 24 hours. Using this document as a guide, more concise tools were developed to improve certain elements in the process. Technology Working closely with the medical center team, the Philips consultant developed a Capacity Management Dashboard – a real-time visualization of bed placement activities across the organization. This data rich environment provides previously unseen insight to the daily ‘churn’ and assists with adherence to the organizations KPIs.
New KPIs critical to success The medical center’s internal IT team is planning to build a set of reporting tools to track performance against new KPIs as defined by the Philips consultant and hospital stakeholders.
Bed Control and Admitting
Nursing Units and Procedural Areas
Environmental Services (EVS) and Transportation
Results*
Successes gained during the consulting engagement triggered organizational capacity management momentum and heighted awareness for efficient throughput. This is a strong foundation to build future capacity management initiatives. The medical center is now pushing forward to fully staff and implement all recommendations including assignment of a nurse leader to oversee capacity management operations.
As a result of the engagement, the medical center was able to:
* Results are specific to the institution where they were obtained and may not reflect the results achievable at other institutions.
Meet our team
Peggy Clifton, RN, MSHA, BSN Senior Consulting Manager
Peggy brings over 30 years of nursing leadership and consulting experience. A solutions-oriented and results-driven professional, she has managed end-to-end engagements with healthcare clients to introduce a variety of process improvements, systems optimization, workflow standardization, and other performance enhancements. She has implemented key initiatives impacting patient throughput, workflow efficiencies, and capacity management for large healthcare systems.
You are about to visit a Philips global content page
Continue
