Reducing length of stay (LOS) and implementing an accurate and efficient discharge planning process are two of the most difficult operational challenges for hospitals and health systems.
In a session at the recent Transform Hospital Operations Virtual Summit, an event hosted by LeanTaaS in partnership with Becker’s Healthcare, Sharon Barnicle, executive director of revenue cycle at Springhill Medical Center (Mobile, Ala.), discussed how implementing iQueue, LeanTaaS' predictive analytics-powered solution, enabled Springhill to tackle those challenges and increase patient throughput. Key results include reducing average LOS by half a day and reducing discharge processing times by over 50%.
Four key insights were:
- Previously, Springhill had significant inpatient flow challenges. Operations at the 270-bed hospital were slowed by siloed workflows, minimal team collaboration, capacity constraints and manual processes lacking real-time information.
To address those hurdles, Springhill implemented bedside clinician huddles to enable better coordination of patient care and established key performance metrics that were distributed to staff via emailed reports. However, those initiatives operated independently of each other, which resulted in email "noise" and increased staff burden without producing desired results.
"We still didn't have everybody in the same room having that conversation and we didn't have visibility into what we really needed to focus on," Ms. Barnicle said. She explained that those inefficiencies were hindering inpatient flow and directly impacting Springhill's bottom line (financial performance) and ability to serve more patients (growth potential). - To achieve operational excellence, Springhill realized they needed a different approach. Mainly, Springhill needed to address the operational friction points that impeded efficient discharge planning and unnecessarily extended LOS — two factors that are critical to optimal capacity utilization.
Springhill embarked on a transformation journey that involved implementing LeanTaaS' iQueue for Inpatient Flow platform. "iQueue provided the comprehensive solution we needed to bridge gaps in collaboration, communication and real-time visibility," Ms. Barnicle said. - iQueue's transformative potential lies in unleashing the power of predictive analytics. By leveraging a sophisticated estimated discharge date (EDD) prediction model, the iQueue platform provides an initial likely discharge date and identifies patients ready to be discharged home without additional needs.
Prior to implementation, "We were having reactive discharge planning," Ms. Barnicle said, "that resulted in lengths of stay being longer than necessary, leading to capacity constraints and suboptimal patient throughput."
iQueue supports efficient discharge planning by monitoring inpatient status and sending alerts when a patient's stay exceeds a predetermined threshold. Further, iQueue identifies potential emergency department (ED) readmissions early, thus enabling ED case managers to intervene sooner and stave off readmissions. - By partnering with LeanTaaS, Springhill has achieved remarkable results. Within just two months of implementing iQueue, Springhill had reduced its average LOS by half a day. That reduction not only enhanced patient throughout, but also translated into better utilization of the hospital's resources.
In addition, discharge processing times were reduced by over 50%, bringing the average processing time down to less than two hours. EDD compliance also increased by 90%.
"By streamlining our discharge process and minimizing delays, we not only improved patient satisfaction, but we also unlocked valuable bed capacity, which enabled us to enhance patient throughput and better serve our community's needs," Ms. Barnicle said.
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