York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health has developed a "nerve center" to help manage high patient volumes in its emergency rooms, Patriot-News reported Dec. 30.
The center, called "WellTrack," is run from a room with 11 wall-mounted screens and a series of computer stations with triple monitors. Staff members monitor information from about 1,000 hospital beds to send patients to the hospital with the best resources to fit their specific needs.
Pam Taffera-Deihl, DO, the center's medical director, said it is like the health system's "eye in the sky." Roxanne Breighner, RN, the center's clinical director, compared it to a "big puzzle."
WellSpan is not the first health system to implement a command center. Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth uses "mission control," which it compares to an air-traffic controller, to track and plan patients' movements across its system. Seattle-based CHI Franciscan Health has used a similar system since 2019.