Data-driven solution helps hospitals prevent bottlenecks

In a pilot project between Aalborg University Hospital (AUH) and Systematic, hospital staff have tested a digital solution that provides dashboards of current and upcoming tasks that included expected waiting times at specific locations. The solution has successfully been piloted in four departments at the hospital, and staff have experienced optimized workflows and better overview of potential bottlenecks.

Challenge
- Departmental silos, not enough staff and lack of overview
- Data is only used historically and not for real-time operation
- Frequent bottlenecks such as waiting time
Solution
- Dashboards gather all available data
- Estimation of expected waiting time for tasks at specific locations
- Overview of current and up-coming tasks
Benefits
- Identification og bottleneck locations and tasks
- Transparent workflows and diminished silos
- Data-driven decision making and access to real-time data
- Increased patient safety

Improving situational overview with real-time data

Hospitals encounter a wide range of challenges from delivering high-quality patient care to enhancing operational effectiveness - with the common need for more staff. Gaining access to relevant workflow data and using it to make adequate decisions can be challenging. Without it, decisions are often based on gut-feelings, which can lead to misaligned expectations and misunderstandings. Furthermore, data is usually only used in a retrospective manner since it is rarely available in real-time, making it difficult to use proactively. As a result, service personnel and clinicians lack the condensed information they need to make important decisions.

Piloting real-time data dashboards

To address these challenges, Systematic conducted a pilot of the solution Columna Flow Command Centre at four departments at Aalborg University Hospital: medical laboratory technicians, radiology as well as the porter and cleaning services. The evaluation was conducted over a two-month period in 2022, and the users have been very happy with the solution. So happy that they have requested to keep the solution permanently.

"I was a bit sceptical when they came by to install and explain the system - mostly because I was busy and couldn't see why we needed anything new. But after a few days with the system, I must say that I will have a hard time doing without it, when I’m superseding in the office in the future” explains one of the porter coordinators.

The solution in action

The Command Centre solution offers personalised dashboards displaying the current tasks being handled, the current unassigned tasks as well as upcoming tasks. Furthermore, the solution presents a median of the average waiting time for a certain task at a certain location. These new dashboards were made available for 25 Managers or Coordinating Managers with the purpose of reducing bottlenecks by better prioritisation of tasks and available staff.

“With a safe environment, mutual respect, and good humour, we can go far together. This is what the cooperation between Systematic and AUH has shown, explains Managing Medical Laboratory Technician, Camilla Wesenberg Holm Andersen.

“Blood sampling and ECG can quickly become a bottleneck, but with the Command Centre we can get a quick overview of waiting times and work pressure, and thus know where to turn for help. It's also a great tool to ensure that our quality targets for response times are met.”

Camilla Wesenberg Holm Andersen

Managing Medical Laboratory Technician

Aalborg University Hospital

Visualise and monitor hospital performance in real-time

Columna Flow Command Centre provides an overview of the patient flow, capacity, and current task load, as well as trend forecasts, allowing hospitals to make proactive decisions to ensure the most efficient workflows. The data-driven visual dashboards offer a quick and easy way to monitor and optimise the hospital's performance within specific departments, giving staff and management the tools, they need to make informed decisions.

"We still need to get to grips with it in the field, but on a day-to-day basis it helps to see how the flow is in each team so we can spot any bottlenecks. We can move resources from one team to another to maintain flow. Of course, this is not done without dialogue as it depends on the type of task that is "stuck", and how each team experiences the workload, says Head of department, Susanne Ladefoged Christensen.

Better overview

The solution provides an overview of the individual teams and their tasks, as well as an overview of potential ‘blocking tasks’, such as:

a trauma call
a food delivery

The solution includes an estimation of the delay a blocking task will have on the other tasks at hand.

Overview of waiting time and bottlenecks

During the pilot, it has become clear that the solution is of great value to the hospital staff, and it has proved to be an extremely useful tool to support the workflows at the hospital.

“With Command Centre, we get a completely different view of things, and for the first time we get insights, which we can share with other specialties in the clinic - it's going to be very rewarding that our major collaborators, like radiology, can see how the workload is during the day, so they can adjust their own workday more efficiently. There is a lot of great learning and potential in the Command Centre, and we look forward to continuing the work and use of it.”

Lars Esko

Administrator

Aalborg University Hospital

Looking ahead, the solution will be able to pull data from other solutions, such as Columna Flow Clinical Tasking as well as solutions from other vendors. The next step is to offer mobile access to the dashboard overview to relevant staff on move.

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Facts about Aalborg University Hospital

Denmark's fourth largest hospital covering Aalborg University Hospital, North, South, Hobro, Farsø, Thisted, Aalborg
700 beds
9.500 employees

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