The Formula for Operational Excellence: Optimizing Patient Flow to Unlock the ED

Emergency department (ED) boarding continues to strain hospitals nationwide, resulting in delayed care, staff burnout, and poor outcomes. But ED congestion is not an isolated issue—it’s often a downstream symptom of broader operational misalignment across inpatient settings. Unlocking sustainable improvements requires a shift upstream.
In this session, Jason Harber, Vice President of Client Services for iQueue for Inpatient Flow at LeanTaaS, will show how leading health systems are reducing ED boarding by rethinking hospital throughput from the inside out. Drawing on the experiences of more than 30 health systems and 100+ hospitals, Jason will outline how AI-powered solutions are helping hospitals:

• Streamline last-mile discharge efforts by surfacing real-time bottlenecks and guiding teams to act decisively
  
• Predict patient trajectories from admission to discharge, driving early coordination and reducing avoidable delays
  
• Align staffing dynamically with shifting demand using forecast-informed mitigation planning
  
• Proactively identify and reroute patients to alternative care pathways—such as Hospital at Home or lower-acuity sites—before inpatient beds are consumed
  
• Provide ED leaders with timely, actionable insights to anticipate arrival surges, streamline diagnostics, and proactively manage patient transitions before bottlenecks occur

Gain insight into the next frontier in ED operations—using predictive analytics to anticipate surges, streamline triage, and stay ahead of bottlenecks before they impact care.

This session offers a practical framework for designing end-to-end flow strategies that move beyond quick fixes—empowering health systems to optimize every hospital node and keep the ED front door open to those who need it most.