Real-Time Capacity Management Focus of Philadelphia Lunch and Learn

At the most recent Philadelphia Lunch and Learn gather, a wonderful mix of 21 attendees, some of whom have been avid users of TeleTracking solutions for years, and others who haven’t, came to hear about the value Real-Time Capacity Management plays in optimizing hospital operations.

“Thank you so much for inviting me to the Lunch and Learn in Philadelphia. It was so informative and enlightening to be around like-minded individuals.”

Quotes like this remind us of the importance of hosting small networking events like our Lunch and Learns which we design around three simple principles: Training, Networking and Education. We create an agenda that makes sense to our current clients, but also educates prospects on the TeleTracking story.

The networking opportunity alone makes this event powerful, informative and very engaging for attendees.

For this Lunch and Learn in Philadelphia, we offered three formal presentations interspersed with networking time.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Implements Patient Flow Management Center

We kicked off the Lunch and Learn with a session presented by Megan Johnston, Operations Manager of the Patient Flow Management Center (PFMC) at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

She spoke candidly about the journey that TJUH travelled when implementing a patient flow management center at their hospital.

When tasked with this project, Megan needed to address the following challenges (and fast!):

• How to properly integrate operational departments to improve patient flow and achieve meaningful results
• How to use technology to improve operations
• How to describe critical success factors associated with implementing rapid change in a complex healthcare organization

Rising inpatient and ED length of stay, longer ED & PACU boarding, and increases in wait times, LWBS and loss of external transfers drove the need to change.  Inefficient patient flow led to quality and safety issues, which adversely affected the financial growth and operations of their hospital. TJUH needed to develop an enterprise wide solution that was data driven, eliminated silos and reduced waste… all in 6 months! When developing their timeline, they needed to deploy a patient flow solution that provided them with:

• Real-Time data
• Accessibility
• Custom system configuration
• Training
• Reporting
• Support and upgrades

Their solution was TeleTracking. To say they were wildly successful would be an understatement. Take a look at their astounding return on investment since deploying the PFMC:

• Investment:
  • Construction Expenses – $1.2 Million
  • Additional Staff – $700,000 annually
• Revenue Capture:
  • CM loss of LWBS rate @ 7%= $3.7 Million
  • Reduction is LWBS rate to 3%= +2.1 Million CM
• ROI
  • 12 month recovery
  • Increase of $1.4 million in CM if 3% LWBS is sustained

Reducing Length of Stay with Real-Time Capacity Management

The next presentation was given by TeleTracking’s Maria Romano, Clinical Product Consultant, on “5 Tips to Reduce Length of Stay with Real-Time Capacity Management.”

Maria asked the audience one simple question: “What are some of your discharge roadblocks that lead to a higher inpatient Length of Stay?” She outlined a few common answers with this simple equation:

Nurses are unaware that the patient is going home

+ Physicians not writing the D/C order or D/C summary on time

+ Patient’s medication reconciliation not completed

+ Transportation not on time

+ Family unable to pick up patient

= Increased Length of Stay for the patient

Do these scenarios look familiar to you? If so, Real-Time Capacity Management solutions can help.  Patients have the ability to get discharged quicker when hospitals leverage transparency tools, hold lean processes accountable with reporting & utilize TeleTracking’s tools and best practices. Once this culture change begins, the silo mentality comes down and patients are discharged more efficiently which reduces overall inpatient LOS.

The following infographic outlines Maria’s 5 tips for Reducing LOS with TeleTracking’s Real-Time Capacity Management platform:

How Real-Time Capacity Management Works: RTLS + Patient Flow Automation

We ended the event with a presentation by Sal Sanzo, RTLS Sales Director for TeleTracking, who gave attendees an exclusive look into how TeleTracking technology provides room and bed-level accuracy for locating assets, patients and staff in real-time.

Combined with RTLS, patient flow automation has evolved into an end-to-end patient logistics platform. Real-Time Capacity Management allows hospital decision-makers to manage functional operations in real-time across the entire enterprise. This creates better utilization of people, space and other resources, which in turn accrues to the bottom line. Sal outlined the importance of implementing RTLS in a hospital enterprise and how the TeleTracking solution can deliver instant ROI through better management of medical resources & devices.

To learn more, download our RTLS kit and discover:

• How RTLS can improve all your non-clinical hospital functions.
• What new role RTLS must play in the financial well-being of hospitals.
• Examples of hospitals who are leading the change to RTCM
• The inherent problems with Wi-Fi.
• And much more

Register for the Next Lunch & Learn: April 17, Lakeland Regional Medical Center!

TeleTracking’s next Lunch and Learn of 2013 will be held on Wednesday, April 17th at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in Lakeland, FL from 10:30AM – 3:30PM EST. We are revamping the agenda to include an issues forum/panel discussion, site visit & client spotlight with Lakeland Regional Medical Center, TeleTracking presentation on “7 Ways to Master Operational Efficiencies in Your Hospital” and an RTLS Learning Lab.

We hope to see you in April.