Patient-Flow Analysis for Planning a Focused Hospital Layout: Tampere Heart Hospital Case.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Hospital Planning
• Operations Research

Background:

• The Heart Hospital's previous functional layout was dispersed across a large campus, hindering efficient patient flow.
• Despite operating as a service line, the physical layout did not reflect this organization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate patient movement-based patient flow analysis for planning a new Heart Hospital.
• To evaluate the method's effectiveness in reducing patient transfer distances.

Main Methods:

• Analyzed patient flow routes over one year using hospital information technology systems during the planning phase.
• Developed a proximity ranking of main hospital functions to guide layout planning.
• Calculated patient transfer distances in both the old and new Heart Hospital layouts post-opening.

Main Results:

• Patient transfer distances were reduced by 33% in the new Heart Hospital (from 5,654 km to 3,797 km).
• The new layout facilitated shorter travel distances for patients between hospital functions.

Conclusions:

• Patient flow analysis is effective in optimizing hospital layouts and reducing patient transfer distances.
• Shorter distances contribute to more fluent patient flow, increased productivity, and enhanced quality of care.