Problem
Novant Health is a non-profit integrated healthcare network with 15 hospitals and more than 350 physician practices offering advanced medical treatments across multiple states. Utilizing purposeful innovation is core to Novant Health’s strategy for delivering an exceptional healthcare experience for patients.
Like most health systems, Novant Health’s branches struggled to align an unpredictable pattern of demand for appointments with a limited supply of physicians, staff, equipment, and infusion centers. The center was experiencing the following operational challenges:
- A daily “midday” crunch of high patient volume and lack of available resources
- Patient dissatisfaction due to high wait times and nurses overworked from patient bottlenecks
Solution
iQueue for Infusion Centers was piloted at Novant Health’s Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte, NC, helping to solve the midday spike in appointments and reduce patient wait times. The infusion center waiting room was intentionally designed to be small and iQueue streamlines how quickly a patient is seen.
Patients are now scheduled at a steadier pace throughout the day, creating less wait time and improving patient flow. The infusion center can now see additional patients throughout the day, and nurse burnout is now less likely.
Utilization Curve Before
- Frequent “midday” peaks and slow mornings and evenings
- Frequent overflow in waiting rooms – long patient waiting times
Utilization Curve After
- Even workload throughout the day allows for more predictable schedules
- Unlock capacity to help deal with unexpected delays and add-ons
Results
The following results were calculated by comparing the six-month period post-iQueue launch, June – December 2020 compared to the analogous six months in the previous calendar year.
What Our Customers are Saying
Since launching iQueue in June 2020, we have been able to add additional appointment slots equaling increased revenue. Our waiting rooms have only a sprinkling of patients compared to pre-iQueue. We have seen a decrease in drug and infusion wait times. Nurses are now able to care for more patients in the same amount of time without feeling slammed during the historical “rush hour.” They are even able to step away for a midday lunch break which was hard to do prior to iQueue. The icing on the cake are the data reports that are available on a daily basis or on-demand.
Lisa Rioux – Novant Health
Nurse Manager
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