Using Technology to Improve Capacity Management at a Pediatric Hospital

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Health Informatics
• Clinical Operations

Background:

• Effective hospital bed management is crucial for patient flow and resource allocation.
• Decisions regarding bed allocation traditionally rely on potentially outdated capacity information.
• The need for real-time data to optimize patient throughput and safety is a significant challenge in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a real-time, enterprise-wide capacity management dashboard.
• To leverage electronic medical record (EMR) data for improved patient flow decision-making.
• To create a standardized data source for optimizing hospital bed utilization and resource management.

Main Methods:

• Information from the electronic medical record (EMR) was integrated into a central data source.
• A dashboard was developed to display real-time hospital capacity information.
• The dashboard was utilized to inform patient flow decisions across the enterprise.

Main Results:

• The dashboard successfully provided real-time, comprehensive, and standardized data on hospital capacity.
• The system facilitated optimized bed space utilization.
• Improved resource allocation and enhanced patient safety were achieved through data-driven decisions.

Conclusions:

• Real-time capacity management dashboards are effective tools for optimizing hospital operations.
• Integrating EMR data into a standardized source significantly improves patient flow decision-making.
• The developed dashboard enhances hospital efficiency, resource management, and patient safety.