Maximizing infusion center efficiency by leveraging chair utilization data
Every day, an infusion center juggles its scarce resources, namely its infusion chairs, nurses and other staff, and it’s pharmacy resources. When managers and schedulers get it right, the day flows relatively smoothly and patient care is maximized. However, when unexpected variances occur in cycle time – the time patients are seated in infusion chairs […]
Guidelines for infusion centers to avoid clogged schedules
Every infusion center faces the operational challenge of maximizing its most scarce resources – infusion chairs, as well as nursing and pharmacy resources. At the heart of utilization is time, and while timing issues arise during the course of a treatment day – for example, a patient’s allergic reaction to a drug extending an appointment […]
How to minimize overbooking at infusion centers: establish a pathway
Smart infusion scheduling has always been a hard problem to crack. With operational constraints, varying nurse schedules, and very sick patients it is hard to construct a flawless schedule that fits the needs of everyone involved. Ensuring that each day runs smoothly has become a daunting and elusive task, while efficient appointment planning remains crucial […]
The data proves it: first case starts and turnover time are not your best metrics
As a perioperative business manager for almost a decade, I’ve seen dozens of operating room efficiency improvement projects and benchmarks that focus heavily on first case delays and turnover times. On the surface, that makes sense; if the first case doesn’t start on time, it has a snowball effect on the rest of the day. […]
Improving operational efficiency in healthcare
The notion of improving operational efficiency is conspicuously absent from the healthcare debate — neither Obamacare nor the newly proposed GOP plan discusses the impact that a step-function improvement in efficiency could have on access to healthcare (through more capacity), quality of healthcare services (through reduced wait times for patients) or cost (through better utilization of scarce, expensive assets). The opportunity […]
Operating room block scheduling needs an overhaul
One minute of utilized operating room (OR) time can be worth more than $70 in revenue and one minute of staffed OR time can cost $50 or more, making underutilized OR time a huge problem. Each year, roughly 51 million surgeries are performed in the 5,000+ hospitals and 5,000+ surgery centers in the U.S. MGMA […]