Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and Epic Systems have worked together to create a Capacity Command Center (CCC) that they say combines real-time data analytics with physical co-location of key operational services to enhance patient safety and care quality.
YNHH claims the CCC innovates in two ways: First, it leverages the huge amounts of operational data generated by the Epic EHR and generates dashboards that allow nurses, physicians and administrators to react to changing conditions in real time. Second, representatives from all relevant operational areas are physically located in one location to facilitate easy communication and coordination. The health system claims this is essential to ensure that it operates at peak levels at all times, and especially when admitted patient volumes are surging.
The dashboards were developed to show a variety of real-time metrics such as bed capacity, bed cleaning turnaround time, patient transport times, delays for procedures and tests, ambulatory utilization and quality and safety indicators. The dashboards, which are visible on the command center screens as well as accessible through Epic by physicians and staff alike, increase real-time operational transparency, according to YNHH.
The physical co-location of key operational services, like bed management, patient transport, the Emergency Department, Environmental Services, nursing staffing, and care coordination, has increased collaborative critical thinking because staff can speak in real time about how to make sure patients are in the right place at the right time and receive the care they need. The increased access to data has already driven process changes. For example, the infection prevention staff can identify all patients in the hospital with Foley catheters, review their charts, and have discussions with nurses and physicians about removing the catheters, since prolonged Foley catheter use directly relates to catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
“Through the CCC, we’re using the enormous amounts of data available from Epic and other sources to improve care, safety and the patient experience,” said Ohm Deshpande, M.D., director, Utilization Review and Clinical Redesign at YNHHS, in a prepared statement. “The center provides the right information to the right people at the right time, to enable the right actions.”
