TY - JOUR
T1 - Hospital Capacity Command Centers
T2 - A Benchmarking Survey on an Emerging Mechanism to Manage Patient Flow
AU - Franklin, Brian J.
AU - Yenduri, Ravali
AU - Parekh, Vikas I.
AU - Fogerty, Robert L.
AU - Scheulen, James J.
AU - High, Heidi
AU - Handley, Kathryn
AU - Crow, Lanie
AU - Goralnick, Eric
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Joint Commission
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - Background: Delayed hospital and emergency department (ED) patient throughput, which occurs when demand for inpatient care exceeds hospital capacity, is a critical threat to safety, quality, and hospital financial performance. In response, many hospitals are deploying capacity command centers (CCCs), which co-locate key work groups and aggregate real-time data to proactively manage patient flow. Only a narrow body of peer-reviewed articles have characterized CCCs to date. To equip health system leaders with initial insights into this emerging intervention, the authors sought to survey US health systems to benchmark CCC motivations, design, and key performance indicators. Methods: An online survey on CCC design and performance was administered to members of a hospital capacity management consortium, which included a convenience sample of capacity leaders at US health systems (N = 38). Responses were solicited through a targeted e-mail campaign. Results were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results: The response rate was 81.6% (31/38). Twenty-five respondents were operating CCCs, varying in scope (hospital, region of a health system, or entire health system) and number of beds managed. The most frequent motivation for CCC implementation was reducing ED boarding (n = 24). The most common functions embedded in CCCs were bed management (n = 25) and interhospital transfers (n = 25). Eighteen CCCs (72.0%) tracked financial return on investment (ROI); all reported positive ROI. Conclusion: This survey addresses a gap in the literature by providing initial aggregate data for health system leaders to consider, plan, and benchmark CCCs. The researchers identify motivations for, functions in, and key performance indicators used to assess CCCs. Future research priorities are also proposed.
AB - Background: Delayed hospital and emergency department (ED) patient throughput, which occurs when demand for inpatient care exceeds hospital capacity, is a critical threat to safety, quality, and hospital financial performance. In response, many hospitals are deploying capacity command centers (CCCs), which co-locate key work groups and aggregate real-time data to proactively manage patient flow. Only a narrow body of peer-reviewed articles have characterized CCCs to date. To equip health system leaders with initial insights into this emerging intervention, the authors sought to survey US health systems to benchmark CCC motivations, design, and key performance indicators. Methods: An online survey on CCC design and performance was administered to members of a hospital capacity management consortium, which included a convenience sample of capacity leaders at US health systems (N = 38). Responses were solicited through a targeted e-mail campaign. Results were summarized using descriptive statistics. Results: The response rate was 81.6% (31/38). Twenty-five respondents were operating CCCs, varying in scope (hospital, region of a health system, or entire health system) and number of beds managed. The most frequent motivation for CCC implementation was reducing ED boarding (n = 24). The most common functions embedded in CCCs were bed management (n = 25) and interhospital transfers (n = 25). Eighteen CCCs (72.0%) tracked financial return on investment (ROI); all reported positive ROI. Conclusion: This survey addresses a gap in the literature by providing initial aggregate data for health system leaders to consider, plan, and benchmark CCCs. The researchers identify motivations for, functions in, and key performance indicators used to assess CCCs. Future research priorities are also proposed.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jcjq.2023.01.007
DO - 10.1016/j.jcjq.2023.01.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 36781349
AN - SCOPUS:85150471227
SN - 1553-7250
VL - 49
SP - 189
EP - 198
JO - Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
JF - Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
IS - 4
ER -