Managing Disruptions to Patient Flow Capacity: Rapid-Cycle Improvement in a Pediatric Cardiac Procedure Complex

Managing service disruptions is a challenge in every health care environment. Discrete event simulation (DES)--a computer modeling tool used to build in silico (that is, in a digital computer) testbeds for potential changes in complex systems--has been deployed in health care for research and quality improvement (QI), specifically in surgical suite management. A strategy for managing a 6-week planned service disruption needed to be enacted 12 weeks after the announcement, in late October 2014, of the closure of the Hybrid Suite (operating room/catheterization laboratory) for renovation, at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Cardiac Center's Cardiac Operative and Imaging Complex (COIC).

A previously developed DES was queried to determine theoretical system throughput capacity during the temporary disruption. On the basis of this analysis, a rapid improvement event (RIE) was enacted to address systemic challenges to meeting demand with diminished capacity. During the RIE, system stakeholders (physicians, nurses, and technicians) engaged with performance improvement personnel to identify potential improvements, test those changes in rapid succession, and then implement successful candidates for the disruption.

First-case start time was 43 minutes earlier during the period of diminished capacity. Turnaround time between cases was reduced by 23 minutes. Length of day increased by 1 hour, in accordance with simulated predictions. System throughput was 138 patients during the disruption, compared with 135 patients during the same period the previous year.

A combination of systems analysis and QI methodologies enabled the Cardiac Center to meet demand during a six-week period of diminished capacity. Planned, temporary service disruptions, which must be managed by clinical personnel, can be addressed proactively with promising results.