Chair Files

Managing Capacity

Efficient bed placement for patients can mean fewer discharge delays, decreased length of stay and less disruption for patients themselves. These were goals of an improvement project at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, based in La Crosse, Wis. Barriers to improvement included a lack of connection between managers and the daily system flow and between the hospital operations manager and unit managers. Gundersen Lutheran used the Institute for Healthcare Improvement?s real-time demand capacity management tool, which calls for (1) predicting capacity, (2) predicting demand, (3) creating a plan and (4) evaluating a plan. The implementation team created workflows and a project plan, tested the process and educated key staff. Facilitated by the hospital operations manager, daily hospital-wide bed meetings include all unit managers and leadership from PT/OT, social services, ER, PACU and environmental services?involvement that proves valuable, says Laraine Buckles, R.N., administrative director. Using the capacity management tool has increased system-level coordination, engaged unit managers and increased accuracy in predicting and planning to ensure capacity meets demand. To learn more, contact Buckles at lebuckle@gundluth.org or Sandra Littlejohn, executive director, at smlittle@gundluth.org.

  

Additional Resources

Webinars December 13th, 2017

Equity of Care Webinar SeriesPart 2: Aligning Diversity and Inclusion, Community Engagement, Busi......

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Webinars November 20th, 2017

Equity of Care Webinar SeriesPart 1: Aligning Diversity and Inclusion, Community Engagement, Busi......

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Webinars November 17th, 2017

Transportation and the Role of Hospitals This AHA webinar on “Transportation and the Role of Hos......

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