Success Stories

Rush Achieves 20.5x ROI and 8% Surgical Growth

20.5x Return on investment

8% Increase in surgical case volume

6% Increase in prime time utilization

63% Decrease in unused block minutes

Summary

Rush University Medical Center, a 671-bed Magnet-designated academic medical center in Chicago, partnered with LeanTaaS to bring a surgeon-centric, data-driven approach to perioperative operations. The result: measurable volume growth, optimized resource utilization, and a culture where clinical and operational excellence converge, all without expanding capacity.

Profile

38 operating rooms (RUMC)

3 primary campuses including Rush University Medical Center (main campus), Rush Copley Medical and Rush Oak Park Hospital

Problem

Despite ranking second nationally by Vizient for quality and performing 24,600+ surgeries annually in 38 ORs, Rush faced critical access barriers. All OR time was fully allocated, with blocks treated as fixed "real estate" that rarely changed hands. Without a way to see or reclaim unused time, surgeons defaulted to retaining blocks as a safeguard, leaving capacity underused and physicians frustrated.

Much of this came down to trust: traditional EHR reports produced fragmented insights surgeons didn't rely on, leaving leadership without the clear metrics needed for productive conversations about block utilization. Meanwhile, an expanding robotic fleet and incoming physicians needed OR time, with no clear path to access it. Left unaddressed, these barriers threatened to stall strategic growth and erode surgeon satisfaction.

Solution

Rush partnered with LeanTaaS, implementing iQueue for Operating Rooms to bring transparency and accountability to block scheduling. The LeanTaaS team helped Rush operationalize iQueue's "collectable time" analysis, surfacing unused capacity without penalizing performance, and introduced surgeon scorecards combining utilization, collectible time, and out-of-block data in one view. Daily huddles and monthly surgical chair meetings turned those numbers into cross-functional habits rather than static reports.

With that foundation in place, Rush used the same data to right-size blocks against actual demand, optimize robotic and procedural room utilization, and keep growing even while closing ORs for upgrades. What made it stick: surgical chair championship, consistent communication, achievable goals (a 75% utilization baseline), and shared trust in the data itself.

The long-time partnership continues today, with ongoing strategic check-ins where the LeanTaaS team provides guidance on capacity management best practices in the OR.