Health system develops real-time bed management
Many access managers are struggling with bed management issues associated with a high hospital census, notes Marne Bonomo, PhD, metro director for patient access at Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee.
With that in mind, Bonomo developed a bed management spreadsheet called "Good Morning Bed Management" that helps forecast the number of beds that her department needs to empty on any given day, based on history and known admits. (See chart, below.)
In late December, one of the Aurora hospital sites went live with a database that will provide real-time ADT-interfaced bed management capability, Bonomo notes. "The goal, evidence-based bed management, is to maintain a census of above 95% while reducing diversion hours," she adds.
Thirteen of Aurora’s hospitals are loaded into the database, which eventually will allow the health system to manage patient transfers across the state, Bonomo notes. She credits a talented information systems team and a supportive emergency department medical director with facilitating the process.
(Editor’s note: Look for a more in-depth discussion of Aurora’s bed management system in a future issue of Hospital Access Management.)
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