Tag Archives: Healthcare

Successful Implementation of FutureFlow Rx® at Seattle Children’s – A New Predictive Patient Flow Technology

by
Dan Hickman Avatar1

Dan Hickman ProModel CTO

I am jazzed about our FutureFlow Rx work with Seattle Children’s Hospital.  What a great group of people to collaborate with.  Check out the press release below and feel free to contact me if you’d like to learn more about this new product – dhickman@promodel.com

Thanks, Dan

Seattle Childrens Logo

Integrated Discrete Event Simulation Census Predictor, Developed by ProModel Corporation, Facilitates Inpatient Flow and Access Management

SEATTLE WA, May 14, 2019 – ProModel Corporation announced the successful implementation of a new predictive patient flow technology called FutureFlow Rx® at Seattle Children’s (SC).

Members of the Enterprise Analytics Community at Seattle Children’s will be presenting their use case at the Advanced Analytics for Children’s Hospitals Conference on June 5-6 at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Seattle Children’s is a co-sponsor of this new analytics conference.

Seattle Children’s, like many other hospitals, faces challenges associated with capacity pressures and inpatient access. Demand for inpatient space often outstrips capacity, whether for physical or staffed beds.

SC leadership has established policy that scheduled elective surgeries must not be canceled due to capacity. Therefore, proactively managing inpatient capacity and staffing takes on even greater urgency in that context. In order to address this issue, they deployed a predictive-analytics solution for census estimation known as FutureFlow Rx®.

Seattle Children’s Quotes

“By providing accurate projections of staffing needs, FutureFlow Rx informs daily challenges faced by every hospital with timely and detailed information.” 

  • Susan Geiduschek, RN, DNP, Sr. Dir, Assoc. Chief Nurse, Seattle Children’s

 

“Integrating FutureFlow Rx into our Inpatient Access and Flow workstreams has really supported a smooth, functional, and most importantly effective process for proactively managing census during an especially challenging flu season. Diversions are down, and so is the general level of anxiety around decision-making. Fewer ad hoc huddles, more standard work with established guiderails and actions.”

  • Ruth McDonald, MD, Assoc. Chief Medical Officer, Seattle Children’s

 

Right Patient, Right Bed, Right Time

The functional goal of every hospital is to place the right patient in the right bed at the right time. Being the region’s only tertiary-care pediatric facility, it is paramount that SC maintain capacity to serve those children that cannot receive care elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

Thus, they must carefully maintain capacity and ensure as few diversions as possible. Combining the FutureFlow Rx® prediction with an application designed by SC Enterprise Analytics staff, they can accurately estimate their ability to manage daily and predicted census, allowing them to proactively make operational decisions that address challenges with foresight.

ProModel Quote

“We are very excited to be working with a hospital as visionary as Seattle Children’s.  They were willing to look beyond what existed today, to determine if a patient flow improvement platform could truly help increase safe inpatient access for their young patients”  Dan Hickman – CTO, ProModel Corporation

About ProModel Corporation

ProModel Corporation is a leading provider of simulation-based, predictive and prescriptive analytic decision support solutions. A Microsoft Gold Partner, ProModel specializes in custom and COTS (Commercial-Off-the-Shelf) software and services to help organizations optimize processes, policies and resource decisions to best align with their business strategy.

Founded in 1988, ProModel has tens of thousands of users of its software globally, focused across the Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Government and Manufacturing & Supply Chain industries.

For additional information: ProModel Marketing 610-628-6842; healthcaresolutions@promodel.com

Top 8 Benefits of Proactive Patient Flow Optimization

by
DanH avatar_34902-300x300

Dan Hickman ProModel CTO

Unpredictably high numbers of scheduled admissions and an uncertain number of available beds.

Stressed staff due to ED boarding, long patient wait times, and off-service placements.

Length of stay and cost per case metrics exceed CMS value-based care efficiency measures.

Sound familiar? 

Patient flow optimization is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve operational effectiveness, the patient stay experience and your hospital’s bottom line. Here’s how.

Top 8 Reasons to Implement Patient Flow Optimization Today

  1. Decrease the Length of Stay (LOS). Find “hidden discharges” (potential candidates for discharge based on diagnosis codes and average LOS metrics) in your current census.
  2. Improve Bottleneck and ADT Issue Visibility. Simply having data does not empower decision makers. In fact, too much data can cause clinical operations staff to ignore it altogether. A patient flow optimization system delivers visual data all hospital staff can easily digest and use to make informed decisions that benefit the hospital and the patients.
  3. Right-size Staffing. By coupling accurate census predictions with staff needs, your health system will experience lower labor costs based on predictable admit, discharge and transfer (ADT) cycles, optimal staffing sizes and diminished demand for expensive nursing agency personnel.
  4. Enhance the Patient Journey. Minimize patient frustration by admitting the vast majority of inpatients to on-service units, even during peak periods.
  5. Capture Additional Revenue. Decreasing length of stay increases bed capacity, so fewer patients leave the hospital without being seen.
  6. Increase Access to Care. Patient flow optimization decreases ED boarding duration, speeds up admissions, and lowers left without being seen (LWBS) rates.
  7. Lower Infrastructure Costs. With patient flow optimization, health systems make optimal use of the existing hospital’s physical footprint, avoiding unnecessary costly build outs.
  8. Staff Satisfaction. Welcome to the stress-free huddle. FutureFlow Rx gives your staff a personal heads-up on issues affecting admissions, discharges and transfers, so they can be addressed at huddle meetings. Prescriptive corrective actions from the patient flow optimization system further empower staff with recommendations based on data and simulation.

 

About FutureFlow Rx™ Patient Flow Optimization

FutureFlow Rx by ProModel uses historical patient flow patterns, real-time clinical data, and discrete event simulation to reveal key trends, provide operational insights, and deliver specific corrective action recommendations to enhance the patient stay experience, lower costs and drive additional revenues. Our platform accurately predicts future events, helping hospitals make the right operational decisions to reduce risk, decrease LOS and improve operational margins. Schedule a demo.

dashboard 300 dpi

 FutureFlow Rx’s dashboard consists of  key performance indicator (KPI) “cards”. The left side of each card shows the last 24 hours; the right side predicts the “Next 24”; and clicking the upper right “light bulbs” provides prescriptive actions to improve the predicted future.

 

New Year, New Ideas

by

2016 brings a new year and it looks to be one of major changes, opportunities and more in the healthcare biz.  Are you ready to try some new methods of improving your medical practice, hospital or clinic?  Simulation has been used by healthcare professionals for over 25 years.  Because of our years of experience in the Healthcare industry, ProModel has assembled a collection of demonstration models that quickly show you ways to simulate that you may never have considered.

Our first demo model is a simple one,  A Clinical Access Time Model. This model demonstrates the ability to model parking lots and access times for patients.  It is a very basic model which shows the capabilities of ProModel’s MedModel Simulation tool.

Stay tuned over the next couple of blogs and we will share other MedModel demos with you.  Below is a list of the many simulations to come.

  1. Appointment Routine
  2. Use of Independent Arrivals
  3. California City Planning ER & Other Services
  4. Radiology Clinic with Costing Features
  5. Day Surgery
  6. Emergency Department
  7. Emergency Departments with Scenarios
  8. Comparing Defibrilators
  9. Hospital
  10. Eye Clinic
  11. Generic Lab
  12. General Hospital ICU Comparison
  13. Managed Care
  14. Nursing Unit
  15. Operating Room Suite
  16. Pediatric Clinic
  17. Pharmacy
  18. Radiology Clinic
  19. Retaining an Exam Room
  20. Urology Clinic
  21. Womans Diagnostic Clinic
  22. X Ray Clinic

These and many other solution videos are available on our YouTube Channel.

If you would like more information about ProModel solutions contact us.

 

ProModel Solutions Presented at the 2015 Patient Flow Summit

by

In May ProModel joined a diverse and talented group of healthcare professionals in Las Vegas to share best practices for improving process and positively impacting the quality of patient care.  Presenters provided views on a wide variety of patient flow issues including population health management, RTLS systems, healthcare reform, readmissions, surgical variability and ED processes.

Not only did ProModel have an exhibit at the event where we were able to officially unveil our new Patient Flow RX solution, but we were also very lucky to have ProModel client and user David Fernandez MHA there to give an insightful and informative presentation on his successful use of simulation in the healthcare world.  Fernandez is VP of Cancer Hospital, Neuroscience and Perioperative Services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and his presentation “Let My Patients Flow! Streamlining the OR Suite” described his use of lean management principles and simulation modeling to improve patient flow in the OR.

David Fernandez MHA, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital discusses his use of simulation for improving patient flow in the OR

David Fernandez MHA, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital discusses his use of simulation for improving patient flow in the OR

Among numerous other presentations, keynote speaker Eugene Litvak PhD, President & CEO of Institute for Healthcare Optimization was there to address the application of queuing theory to healthcare processes, as he believes it is a methodology that will correctly address the challenge of hospitals to match random patient demand to fixed capacity.

The Patient Flow Summit helped hospital leaders from all over the world learn the latest about optimizing capacity, streamlining operations, improving patient care, and increasing fiscal performance.

Presenters provided views on a wide variety of patient flow issues

Presenters provided views on a wide variety of patient flow issues

ProModels (L) Kurt Shampine, VP and (R) Dan Hickman, CTO – unveiling Pateint Flow Rx!

ProModels (L) Kurt Shampine, VP and (R) Dan Hickman, CTO – unveiling Pateint Flow Rx!

In the OR with Dale Schroyer

by
Dale%20Schroyer

Dale Schroyer – Sr. Consultant & Project Manager

I generally find that in healthcare, WHEN something needs to happen is more important than WHAT needs to happen.  It’s a field that is rife with variation, but with simulation, I firmly believe that it can be properly managed.  Patient flow and staffing are always a top concern for hospitals, but it’s important to remember that utilization levels that are too high are just as bad as levels that are too low, and one of the benefits of simulation in healthcare is the ability to staff to demand.

Check out Dale’s work with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital where they successfully used simulation to manage increased OR patient volume: 

About Dale

Since joining ProModel in 2000, Dale has been developing simulation models used by businesses to perform operational improvement and strategic planning. Prior to joining ProModel Dale spent seven years as a Sr. Corporate Management Engineering Consultant for Baystate Health System in Springfield, MA where he facilitated quality improvement efforts system wide including setting standards and facilitating business re-engineering teams. Earlier he worked as a Project Engineer at the Hamilton Standard Division of United Technologies.

Dale has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Management Science from Lesley University. He is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and is Lean Bronze certified.

NEW! ProModel’s Patient Flow Solution:

http://patientflowstudio.com/

ProModel Healthcare Solutions:

http://www.promodel.com/Industries/Healthcare

Healthcare’s Evolution

by
Jacqueline Hodge - ProModel Director of Healthcare Initiatives

Jacqueline Hodge – ProModel Director of Healthcare Initiatives

Ever heard the phrase:  “Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll keep getting what you’re getting”?  My Mom used to say that to me all the time and I still think about it today.  I’ve been in the healthcare industry my entire life and, needless to say, a career that has never had a dull moment.  Change is the only constant in healthcare today.

 Healthcare is a place for those who don’t shy away from change and can embrace new ideas even when they are not popular.  Many of the decisions made in healthcare are based on intuition, gut feelings, experience, and consensus. I’ve been a part of those think tanks and times have changed… information resources have changed…                                                           technology has changed… expectations have changed!

Our hospitals have been tasked to do more with less – who hasn’t heard that right?  Through innovative technologies like simulation, we can use predictive analytics to visualize, analyze, and optimize processes.  We have to identify the bottlenecks in our systems that are affecting patient outcomes, patient wait times, correct bed placement and optimal staffing.  Variability in patient flow through our healthcare systems is an impediment to the cost reductions and improvement of patient safety and quality of care (Litvak et al).

Systems have been slowly adopting the principles learned through lean and six sigma but have slow to adapt to the tools available.  Hospitals have shifted from revenue generating to cost reduction.  Simulation tools are the next step in healthcare’s evolution to impact costs due to healthcare’s unique challenges caused by variability due to competition for patient beds, resources, and patient throughput — all are a part of the ongoing challenge we face to meet expectations for ‘doing more with less”

About Jacqueline Hodge

Jacqueline has had the privilege of being part of the healthcare industry for the past 25 years in Arizona after moving from Nashville, TN.  She has served in numerous roles throughout her healthcare career including medical technologist, business development executive and hospital CEO.

Prior to joining ProModel, Jacqueline was the CEO of Promise Hospital Phoenix where she provided strategic leadership to all clinical operations.  She established and executed goals that directly impacted hospital operations, patient care, physician development and business growth.  Having been a CEO, Jacqueline knows the immeasurable value that simulation technology brings to hospital operations. She was able to make leadership decisions quickly by analyzing internal data in its virtual environment with the ability to focus on both high level strategic initiatives and day to day operational tactics.

At Promise Hospital Jacqueline previously served as their VP of Business Development where she led physician development, contracting, and sales/marketing.  Before her time at Promise, she was the Area Business Director for Kindred Healthcare responsible for 4 hospitals within the Arizona market. Jacqueline also has global pharmaceutical experience in Scientific Affairs and Business Development leadership roles including Bayer Healthcare and Astellas Pharma US.

Jacqueline holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Murray State University.  She also holds an ASCP Medical Technology Certification from St. Mary’s Hospital, and has worked as a Medical Technologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center at the start of her career.

NEW! ProModel’s Patient Flow Solution:

http://patientflowstudio.com/

ProModel Healthcare Solutions:

http://www.promodel.com/Industries/Healthcare

Simulation Ensures Patient Safety During Hospital Move

by

Northwest Community Hospital is an acute care hospital in Arlington Heights Illinois, right outside of Chicago.  The staff at NCH had the very complex and delicate task of arranging and accomplishing the move of 150 patients over to a newly constructed facility on campus.  This is a welcome but difficult situation that many healthcare organizations find themselves in today as technology improvements and rising patient populations demand growth.

See how NCH achieved a flawless transition through predictive analytics and simulation:

Power of Predictive Analytics for Healthcare System Improvement and Patient Flow

by

Hospitals are currently under intense pressure to simultaneously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare delivery in an environment where operating costs are being reduced, downsizing and consolidation is the norm, and cost for care is increasing while revenue is decreasing.  At the same time the systemic effects of peak census and varying demand on patient LOS are creating capacity issues and unacceptable patient wait times…leading to a major decline in patient satisfaction.

The amount of proposals to enhance a hospitals quality care are as numerous as the healthcare professionals dedicated to the cause.  What hospitals need however is the ability to quickly and accurately evaluate the impact of those various operational proposals and to experiment with system behavior without disrupting the actual system – and ProModel’s simulation technology is allowing them to do just that.

The predictive analytic capability of ProModel simulation will allow healthcare professionals to test assumptions and answer those patient flow “what if” questions in a matter of minutes and days, not weeks and months.  Simply put, it’s providing a decision support system to assist healthcare leaders in making critical decisions quickly with a higher degree of accuracy and confidence.

Simulation will also help healthcare staff quickly identify room availability and recognize high risk patient flow bottlenecks before extreme problems occur.  This invaluable knowledge will then lead to reductions in patient wait times and LOS, avoid unnecessary re-admissions and costly expansions, and most importantly – increase the overall quality of service and patient satisfaction.

Designing Better Care For Your OR

by
JCowden Profile Pic

Jennifer Cowden – Sr. Consultant

Earlier this year, my family and I took a vacation to a certain kid-friendly theme park.  As we wandered from ride to ride, we couldn’t help but note that, even at the peak times on the more popular rides, you rarely saw crowds standing outside waiting. The long lines were all contained within a succession of fairly climate-controlled rooms that obviously took some thought to plan. This particular company is big into predictive analytics, so I would hazard to say that they didn’t just guess at the maximum size of the line at peak time; they are probably not going to go live with a new attraction or other big change unless they simulate it first.  An interesting dynamic that we observed was that when a wait time for an attraction was lowered on their new mobile app, we could literally see the “flash mob” of patrons converge on that ride, causing the line to go from a 10-minute wait to a 30-minute wait in the blink of an eye.  I turned to my husband, who is also an engineer and a geek, and said “I wondered if their model predicted that.”

Theme parks obviously need to be concerned about a positive overall  visitor experience; after all, they are always competing for discretionary funds with other sources of entertainment.  Now, more and more hospitals are developing that same mindset: being cognizant of the overall patient experience to the point of modeling new spaces before they go live.  How many OR rooms should they outfit for opening day, and how many can wait?  How can they make the best use of the spare rooms?    Is there enough space in the corridors that the patients won’t feel too crowded?  Is there enough space in the waiting areas for the families of the outpatients?  How many staff members do they need for each department to minimize patient wait time?  Are there any unforeseen bottlenecks due to sudden dynamic shifts?  These are just a few of the questions that simulation can answer.

Check out Jennifer’s Ambulatory Care/OR Suite Model:

About Jennifer

Before joining ProModel in 2013, Jennifer spent 15 years in the automation industry working for a custom turnkey integrator. As an Applications Engineer she built simulation models (primarily using ProModel) to demonstrate throughput capacity of proposed equipment solutions for a variety of customers. Jennifer’s experience covers a wide range of industrial solutions – from power-and-free conveyor systems to overhead gantries and robotic storage and retrieval systems. She has also created applications in the pharmaceutical, medical device, automotive, and consumer appliance industries.

Jennifer has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Busy Season at ProModel

by
Keith Vadas

Keith Vadas – ProModel President & CEO

I am pleased to report ProModel’s second quarter was very positive.  Like many businesses in the US we find ourselves on a serious upswing this Summer of 2014.  Our consultants are working on several projects in a variety of industries, including ship building, power management, retail, manufacturing, food processing, and government contracting.  In all of these projects our experienced team of consultants is working to improve efficiency, save money, and make better decisions for their clients.

ProModel’s DOD projects continue to thrive.  It is hard to believe it has been eight years since we started working with FORSCOM (US Army Forces Command)   on AST (ARFORGEN SYNCHRONIZATION TOOL).  LMI-DST (Lead Materiel Integrator – Decision Support Tool) with the LOGSA Team (US Army Logistics Support Activity) is also going strong.  Our agile team of software developers keeps improving the development process within ProModel and it shows. Just recently the NST Airframe Inventory Management Module was Granted Full Accreditation by the Commander, Naval Air Systems Command.

The time is also ripe for opportunities in Healthcare.  Our patient flow optimization capabilities are perfect for helping hospitals and outpatient clinics improve efficiencies.  Now that the Affordable Care Act has been around for a couple of years, its impact is being felt by healthcare organizations around the country.  The expanded insured-base, and the need for improved processes and different care models is making it absolutely necessary to consider the value of modeling and simulation.  ProModel continues to work with several facilities including Presbyterian Homes and Services, and Array Architects who enhance the flow in Healthcare Facilities design by using MedModel simulation in their design processes.

To better support our base of existing customers, we just released ProModel/MedModel 2014 in July and PCS Pro 2014 at the end of Q1.  EPS 2014 (Enterprise Portfolio Simulator) was released in Q2  and includes a new easy to use, web-based rapid scenario planning tool – Portfolio Scheduler.  You can check this tool out online at – http://portfoliostud.io/#.

There continue to be lots of exciting things happening at ProModel.  We have an outstanding team of consultants and software developers-designers just looking for an opportunity to PARTNER with you to help you meet the next business challenge, or solve the next unexpected problem.