Roundtable Analytics Delivers Major Improvement in Patient Flow at Vidant Medical Center
GREENVILLE, NC, March 17, 2017 (Newswire.com) - Vidant Medical Center’s main Emergency Department (ED) recently implemented a highly successful nurse staffing initiative using predictive analytics. Enabled by insights from Roundtable Analytics, Inc., a software and consulting company offering EDs full-spectrum descriptive and predictive analytics, Vidant’s ED leaders were able to project and evaluate the impact of multiple staffing scenarios using predictive simulation modeling before committing to their new staffing plan.
Late in 2016, nurse manager Brandy Galloway recognized a need to redesign her nurse staffing model to respond to increasing volumes and service demands and used analytics to identify an action plan. Instead of relying on Vidant’s historical approach to determine staffing levels, Galloway utilized Roundtable’s Emergency Department Strategy Lab (EDSL), a predictive simulation modeling service that makes it quick and easy to consider multiple scenarios for adjusting nurse staffing at key times throughout the day.
Galloway started by creating a baseline of her expected ED performance and simulated a year of ED operations with her historic budget, which projected unacceptable wait times and patient flow metrics, as well as poor financial performance. Supported by Roundtable’s data and analytics, Vidant’s administration approved Galloway’s proposal for a substantial increase in resources, in particular, 17 additional full-time nurses over the current budget. Galloway said, “This was a team effort, but it was really made possible by the Roundtable data.” Clinical Director Timothy Reeder, MD, responded to Galloway’s success, saying, “The fact that the hospital approved this many resources in the middle of the budget year is remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
And the timing could not have been better. The robust nurse staffing model simulated by Galloway and put into place in early January helped Vidant manage an intense flu season, which saw ED volumes increase over the coming weeks. Despite this increase in patient arrivals, Vidant’s main ED was able to dramatically reduce its patient left-without-treatment (LWOT) rate from fourth quarter 2016 numbers, just as predicted by Galloway’s simulations.
The LWOT reduction and improved patient flow means the return on Vidant’s ED staffing investment has been swift. In just the first two months of 2017, the additional revenue of treating nearly 14 more patients per day has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue and already nearly offset Vidant’s staffing investment. By the end of 2017, the impact to the hospital’s bottom line is projected to be considerable, a tremendous return on their investment in the right staffing resources, and the right data and analytics services.
For the ED management team the process improvement work continues, and Dr. Reeder pointed out it’s time to simulate some potential changes to their provider staffing model. But with Roundtable Analytics’ insights and with EDSL, the task of further improving their patient flow is far easier than ever.
About Roundtable Analytics, Inc.
Roundtable Analytics, Inc. provides consulting and comprehensive data analytics for emergency departments, including easy-to-use, site-specific simulation models. Securely leveraging each ED’s unique data resources, Roundtable Analytics delivers its data services via SaaS to ED managers who can quickly assess the state of their ED and simulate the impact of key management changes using Roundtable’s Emergency Department Strategy Lab, or EDSL. This approach eliminates the risks of suboptimal patient care and financial losses that can occur during costly trial-and-error periods.
Funded by a combination of National Science Foundation grants and private equity, the company created research partnerships with two major medical research universities, which led to the development of its analytics services and technology. Roundtable Analytics launched EDSL commercially in 2016.
Contact:
Tate Holt
CEO
tate@roundtableanalytics.com
1.415.717.6941
Source: Roundtable Analytics, Inc.