On September 26th, OHI and our client, Jerry Henderson, LifeBridge Health’s VP of Perioperative Services at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, gave a presentation at the Health Financial Management Association (HFMA) Mid-Atlantic Region Annual Conference in Virginia Beach. Over 260 healthcare executives were in attendance from Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and several neighboring states to learn more about the future of healthcare under the Affordable Care Act and how to operate more efficiently in order to get out from under the weight of rising healthcare costs.
Workflow Technology Drives $2MM-$3MM Bottom Line Improvement
The focus of OHI’s presentation centered on lowering costs and generating revenue in the perioperative setting using LEAN methodology and the application of workflow technology to improve resource utilization and patient flow. The case study examined performance in the clinical unit responsible for clearing patients for surgery and in which the OPTIMI$ER workflow technology was recently installed. Annualized results after one month of operation total $2MM to $3MM bottom line improvement. This includes:
- 60% increase in staff satisfaction with regard to the patient clearance process.
- 1-2 additional surgical cases/day due to a reduction of errors and omissions leading to surgical delays and cancellations. The estimated incremental revenue is $750k-$1.5 million.
- A technology overlay that will facilitate the unit’s ability to bill for services currently offered free of charge – the estimated incremental revenue is $1.2 – $1.5 million.
- 1 FTE reallocated to another service area due to a reduction manual process steps, documentation, and information transfer. An additional FTE reallocation is anticipated by year end. The estimated cost savings are $150k.
- $20k savings in paper, ink cartridges, and fax maintenance.
The attendees, largely hospital CEO’s, CFO’s, COO’s, and revenue cycle managers were very receptive to the issues outlined and the solution offered. In particular, they acknowledged that EHR’s are not providing the workflow efficiency they had hoped for. And that an overlay solution like OPTIMI$ER that can interface with the EHR as well as other clinical and financial IT systems is a promising path to explore.