Duncan Regional Hospital Implements New Throughput Technology To Affect Change In ED Operations

Web-based module from T-System will provide hospital with critical information about patient flow, staffing and resources

Duncan Regional Hospital in southwestern Oklahoma has taken a new approach to manage its patient throughput (the average length of stay) in the emergency department (ED). It will soon implementT SystemEV STAT, an intelligent engine that helps hospitals operate at maximum efficiency by anticipating staffing and care management needs as well as potential bottlenecks that can disrupt workflow. Offered by T-System, Inc., the industry leader in clinical, business and IT solutions for emergency medicine, T SystemEV STAT will go live at the 167-bed hospital this summer.

The technology, which can be accessed anywhere via the Internet, aggregates real-time data and uses advanced algorithms to analyze patient statistics, calculate metrics such as inflow/outflow ratio and capacity, trend against historical baselines, and perform predictive modeling. T SystemEV STAT also serves as an advanced notification system, generating alerts for management when the ED approaches capacity, and as a disease surveillance tool, tracking and identifying geographically clusters of people diagnosed with a particular illness.

"It's about making our departments accountable and making really good decisions and process improvements," said Roger Neal, chief information officer, Duncan Regional Hospital.

"T SystemEV STAT lets our hospital and ED administrators, physicians and nurses look at the broad picture and make their own adjustments shift to shift, day to day, to improve performance. The tool gives them the power to know exactly what is going on in the ED and to affect change and proactively plan for what's coming in the future."

T SystemEV STAT is a fully integrated module of T SystemEV, which is Duncan Regional Hospital's current ED information system (EDIS). T SystemEV STAT will collect relevant data from the EDIS to calculate key performance measures, driving improvement changes both this year and in preparation of future events. Specifically, the facility will apply T SystemEV STAT in three areas to identify bottlenecks and waste and make improvements:

• Patient throughput: Like many EDs, Duncan Regional Hospital struggles with quantifying its true patient throughput, an emerging need due to its steady 30 percent increase in recent years. The tool will measure patient flow during "door-to-doc" time and its triaging process to determine what adjustments are needed to lower wait times, thus providing higher quality care. As well, clients can identify precisely where and why any bottlenecks are occurring, whether due to a staffing or patient acuity issue, a slowdown with lab results, an influx of ambulances, etc.
• Resource staffing: The collected data will help Duncan Regional Hospital's ED nursing managers better match staffing to patient demand as it varies from day to day and hour to hour. Historical trends can also be used to predict patient volumes and thus staffing needs. This approach is a win-win for hospitals in ensuring nurses have reasonable workloads while, at the same time, allowing them to maximize time with critically ill patients who need it the most.
• Lab and radiology results distribution: These two primary support areas for the ED must provide time-sensitive turnaround of patient test results. The analyzed data can zero in on bottlenecks causing long wait times between the ED and other departments coordinating lab, CT scans and X-ray results, helping everyone involved make protocol changes.

According to Neal, other systems do not offer the same level of detailed information about the ED as T SystemEV STAT. "Of all the systems our hospital evaluated, T SystemEV STAT provides the most sophisticated data in the simplest format. Other systems would require us to run a bunch of reports that are difficult to understand, whereas T SystemEV STAT gives us a quick, clear picture of exactly what is happening in our ED in real time. The other nice thing is the true integration with T-System's ED EHR coupled with excellent customer support and training," he said.

"Our country's emergency departments are busier than ever, and that trend will only increase as the population ages and more people become insured through health reform changes. Hospitals like Duncan Regional recognize the benefit of leveraging their ED data to make informed decisions that can improve care, efficiency and throughput," said Sunny Sanyal, T-System's chief executive officer. "T SystemEV STAT makes a positive immediate and future impact on overall operations, the patient healthcare experience, and the work lives of our dedicated caregivers."

About Duncan Regional Hospital
Duncan Regional Hospital has a statewide reputation as one of the premier Oklahoma hospitals for medical excellence, advanced technology and nationally recognized high levels of patient satisfaction. The hospital is located in southwest Oklahoma in the city of Duncan. Duncan Regional Hospital is a 167-bed nationally accredited hospital. For more information, visit www.duncanregional.com or download our iPhone or Android apps.

About T-System
T-System, Inc. sets the industry standard for clinical, business and IT solutions for emergency medicine, with approximately 40 percent of the nation's emergency departments using T-System solutions. To meet the individual needs of hospitals, T-System offers both paper and electronic systems. These tools help clinicians provide better patient care, while improving efficiency and the bottom line. Today, more than 1,700 emergency departments rely on T-System's gold-standard content and workflow solutions. For more information, visit www.tsystem.com.

SOURCE: T-System, Inc.