What You Should Know:
- Operational limitations—such as staffing shortages, variable patient flow, and poor visibility into resource availability—can make it difficult for healthcare organizations to effectively manage their capacity, leading to volatile workloads that see resources either under- or over-utilized. Some organizations are using capacity optimization management technology, which includes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to collect data that can improve resource management, especially regarding the utilization of scarce assets like operating rooms, inpatient beds, and infusion centers.
- A new report – KLAS’ first to focus on capacity optimization management—shares what technology is being used and what outcomes it is driving for customers.
Analysing the Benefits Organizations Are Seeing Due to Capacity Optimization Management
Each year, KLAS interviews thousands of healthcare professionals about the IT solutions and services their organizations use. For this report, interviews were conducted over the last 12 months using KLAS ’ standard quantitative evaluation for healthcare software, which is composed of 16 numeric ratings questions and 4 yes/no questions, all weighted equally. Combined, the ratings for these questions make up the overall performance score, which is measured on a 100-point scale. The questions are organized into six customer experience pillars—culture, loyalty, operations, product, relationship, and value.
Capacity optimization management software utilizes data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) to enhance patient access, care delivery, and resource management, such as staff, beds, and operating rooms, in healthcare systems. This technology is applicable at both the department and organization levels, and current market solutions are available as standalone products that can integrate with patient flow, transfer center, and command center solutions, or as part of a comprehensive patient flow and transfer center suite. The provided chart outlines the validated solutions offered by various vendors and whether they are standalone products or part of a suite.
Key findings are as follows:
- Strong Relationships from LeanTaaS Drive Value; Early Feedback on Qventus Also Shows Positive Impacts: LeanTaaS and Qventus offer standalone solutions for capacity optimization, and both are seen by respondents as driving strong outcomes and providing high value. Across LeanTaaS’ large customer base, respondents consistently report high satisfaction. They highlight the frequent, collaborative meetings they have with vendor representatives. The vendor’s guidance has allowed respondents to quickly adopt the solution and drive outcomes—e.g., increase patient throughput/capacity, decrease wait times in infusion centers, and improve block utilization in operating rooms (ORs). The limited number of Qventus respondents are mostly perioperative customers. They say Qventus understands their needs and effectively adapts to changing conditions, thus helping drive organizational efficiency. Specific outcomes include increased patient throughput/capacity and decreased length of stay; a few respondents cite the ability to maintain care levels despite having less staff. Some respondents experienced slow, resource-intensive implementations, and one respondent noted the need for improved change management practices.
- EMR Vendor Epic Highlighted for Integration, Out-of-the-Box Functionality; Customers Want Additional Enhancements in the Future: Epic is the only EMR vendor in this study, and interviewed customers use the capacity optimization functionality via the following applications: Grand Central, Cadence, OpTime, MyChart, Cogito, Slicer Dicer, and Cognitive Computing. Multiple respondents mention Epic’s proficiency in integrating various data sources to provide a high-level view of an organization’s operational status. Further, the product is said to have strong out-of-the-box functionality that helps improve operational communication enterprise wide and increase visibility, leading to improved patient throughput and more balanced workloads.
- TeleTracking & Care Logistics (Limited Data) Increase Patient Throughput; Implementation & Training Are Opportunities for Improvement: TeleTracking respondents report that increased visibility into their operations has led to actionable insights and greater efficiency. Reported outcomes include increased patient throughput/ capacity, improved productivity, and reduced resource waste. Many respondents also appreciate the accurate, customizable reports. The limited number of Care Logistics respondents all use Hospital Operating System, and these respondents say the vendor is customer focused; Care Logistics makes an effort to help customers successfully use the solution and drive outcomes by working within organization parameters.
