Case Studies
Background
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) was established in 1883 to be a full-service, nonprofit pediatric academic medical center with a vision to be the leader in improving child health. Today, at 622 total registered beds, CCHMC is ranked #3 Best Children’s Hospital in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-23.
The Problem
Each year Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has 1.5 million outpatient visits with 2,000 providers across thirty specialties using hundreds of clinic rooms spread across ten separate locations. Coordinating and scheduling the availability of providers, rooms, and staff to ensure optimal clinic capacity to meet the demands of patient access was a significant challenge for CCHMC.
Achivements
Despite the complex nature of scheduling outpatient clinic capacity and managing clinic operations, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has made significant strides in addressing these challenges. The hospital implemented various strategies and solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their ambulatory clinic operations. These achievements include:
Development of a centralized clinic capacity management system
Despite the complex nature of scheduling outpatient clinic capacity and managing clinic operations, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has made significant strides in addressing these challenges. The hospital implemented various strategies and solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their ambulatory clinic operations. These achievements include:
Optimization of clinic capacity
By analyzing patient demand along with provider, room, and staff availability data, CCHMC has been able to optimize their clinic capacity. They have implemented strategies to match patient appointments with available providers and rooms more effectively, reducing wait times and improving access to care.
Over a 12 month period, CCHMC experienced an improvement of 32% in room utilization and a 40% drop in displaced patients.
Implementation of technology solutions
CCHMC used Kezava technology to not only improve clinic operations but also integrate it into the Epic electronic health records (EHRs) and patient portals, which enable seamless information exchange and enhance the overall patient experience. Additionally, the hospital utilizes Kezava data analytics to gain insights into room utilization, provider productivity and patient flow patterns to identify areas for improvement.