Artificial intelligence has proven it's here to stay in the healthcare setting.
But for AI to deliver all it has to offer, it must be accompanied by culture change and processes designed to maximize its benefits.
In a Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by LeanTaaS, Aaron Miri, chief digital and information officer at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Fla., described how this health system with six hospitals and three freestanding emergency departments (EDs) has successfully implemented disruptive AI technology across the entire enterprise. He also discussed insights and lessons learned along the way. Sanjeev Agrawal, president and chief operating officer of LeanTaaS, moderated.
Three key takeaways were:
- Baptist Health had a common problem of surgeons hoarding operating room (OR) block time. Hoarding resulted in a "lose-lose" situation with lack of access to some physicians and patients while blocks of ED time went unused. Baptist Health was also burdened with too many manual and error-prone workflows.
"Not having enough block time means not being able to do enough surgeries, which means that patients have to wait longer to get the care they deserve and need," Mr. Miri said. That led leaders at Baptist Health to realize they needed a better solution and a different way of operating and managing ED capacity. - After implementing LeanTaaS' IQueue intelligent workflow solution, Baptist Health saw a measurable return on investment. IQueue is an AI-powered software solution that optimizes scheduling, supports intelligent block allocation, provides advanced reporting and analytics and enables optimizing staffing. In addition to this AI solution, Baptist Health also engaged in workflow automation and change management. This combination produced growth, ROI and greater “systemness.”
The results included a 45 percent increase in robotic case minutes and a 16 percent increase in prime-time utilization. Patients were getting their surgeries 16 days sooner than before implementing the IQueue system. "We had all these aspects of positive ROI that were measurable, quantifiable and actually materialized," Mr. Miri said. - In order to succeed, even the best AI systems need leadership. That means having leadership buy-in and willing partnerships across the organization, Mr. Miri said. It also means being data-driven, getting rid of non-value-added work, and going beyond simply train-the-trainer to ensure that people understand the "why" behind the business decisions. Having a high-quality vendor partnership and support is also critical, he said.
Making the move to use an AI system like iQueue to better utilize scarce hospital resources is a journey that requires careful planning and attention. Success is based on more than just software implementation; it also requires organizational change.
In combination, a state-of-the-art AI solution, workflow automation, change management and a strong partner like LeanTaaS can be truly transformational to a health system, both in the business sense and in delivering patient care.
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