OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in Columbus is on track to save $6.6 million and more than 16,800 excess patient days after implementing new inpatient technology.
The health system has been experiencing extensive wait times, said Jean Halpin, chief operations officer at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center and system vice president of customer experience for OhioHealth. Those delays prompted the thought of using AI to "optimize that process and enable our teams to provide care more efficiently," she said.
The solution, made by technology company Qventus, has "helped OhioHealth identify gaps in operational efficiency, saving us nearly $550,000 in the first 30 days of deployment, by significantly improving care coordination and reducing excess stays," said Ms. Halpin. "Through streamlining our discharge processes and coordination, we saw a reduction in the number of excess days for patients by nearly 1,400, which not only resulted in cost savings for OhioHealth, but resulted in better care for our patients, getting them in quicker to be seen and out sooner when they are ready to go home."
OhioHealth rolled out the solution in two phases, one in March and one in June. Since then, its projected savings grew.
"Our savings were more significant than we had predicted within the first month of deployment," Ms. Halpin said. "Now, we're forecasted to save 16,800+ excess days and $6.6 million in the first year."
Its features also help with clinical decision-making, she said.
The inpatient AI tool is fully embedded within OhioHealth's current electronic health records system and saves time and money for the hospital in three key ways:
- Machine learning algorithms that are embedded into the EHR upon use of the tool analyze and recommend flow prioritization to clinicians based on patient and census data to help move patients through and free up capacity after they discharge.
- The tool features real-time insights that provide teams with statistics to easily see where achievable discharge dates and disposition determination can be streamlined.
- The inpatient AI tool also works to detect gaps in care and can prompt providers for orders that may have been missed.