Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1516756
19 Executive Briefing EXECUTIVE BRIEFING Real-time case milestone data helps to improve operational efficiency Information from LiveData helps hospitals streamline workflows and increase the productivity of their OR resources. For example, when a surgical team creates a timestamp that they have started to close the patient, environmental services receives a notification. They know which OR to clean next, enabling another procedure to start sooner. "These workflow improvements snowball into a more tightly run operation without anyone working harder to make that happen," Mr. Robbins said. To optimize surgical caseloads and OR block-time utilization, many organizations are turning to analytics. Real-time case milestone data can help here, since the old adage — garbage in, garbage out — holds true. "If you don't have accurate timestamps captured in the OR, there are limits to how well any analytics algorithm will work," Mr. Robbins said. "Whenever people enter timestamps manually, that data is an approximation because it's after the events have occurred. The timestamps are based on memory or maybe even on notations written on the sleeves of the nurse's scrubs. Consequently, any analytics-based recommendations for improving case mix and OR utilization won't be as accurate as they could be." LiveData enables surgical teams to create fine-grained, concurrent timestamps. These allow organizations to better schedule their next set of OR cases. Predictions about likely case times give hospital schedulers a set of power tools to augment their planning skills. More accurate data about what's really going on makes them more effective in their jobs. Driving workflow changes in complex, high-acuity processes must be done with care At some hospitals, procedure scheduling workflows are onerous for community surgeons. As a result, these clinicians decide to take their procedures to different institutions. Streamlined workflows can increase demand for ORs. Making it easy for surgeons to schedule at a hospital and then running ORs more smoothly are integral to LiveData's solutions. "If a surgeon has a case that they might bring to your organization, but there are one too many phone calls or faxes involved to schedule it, they may go elsewhere," Mr. Robbins said. "LiveData's software tools provide a secure, curated view of OR availability, which makes it easy for practice managers to jump on slots when they open up in the hospital schedule." In hospitals where OR capacity is already near its limit, streamlining workflows can also be beneficial, as it helps to ensure patients are treated safely and staff can still go home on time at the end of the day. Whether an organization is looking to bring in more surgical cases or optimize limited OR resources, LiveData's solutions can help. "Users have to accept software," Mr. Robbins said. "If they don't, technology won't help. It's key to make software compelling for the team to use, rather than creating a senior management mandate. That's why LiveData has created things like the clicker device and other simple steps to make it easier for staff to capture surgical data in real time." Having access to accurate, real-time data in the OR setting can provide significant benefits. Yet for many organizations, even those that have implemented various technological solutions, access to this data in easy-to-use formats is still lacking. When it comes to data-driven, technology-based tools in the OR, ease of use is what leads to widespread user adoption and creates a virtuous cycle for organizations. "Our tools are ancillary to the important work done in the OR, but to the extent that we can make that environment better for the team, it gives us a great deal of job satisfaction," Mr. Robbins said. 2 LiveData develops and deploys LiveData PeriOp Manager™– a surgical capacity management solution that streamlines scheduling workflows, optimizes OR utilization, improves communication, boosts staff and surgeon satisfaction, and enhances patient safety and convenience. Surgery departments using LiveDataPeriOp Manager have documented significant improvements in utilization, case scheduling accuracy, first-case-on-time-starts, cancellations, and turnover.