Improving lab utilization while reducing labor and supply costs per case

Catheterization Labs

Case Study

3

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At one of America’s leading heart procedure institutes, the hospital
was facing rising supply costs from new product introductions and a
rising case backlog due to limited Cath Lab room availability. There
were questions around the need to build additional capacity.

An assessment identified the following opportunities:

Delayed first case on-time starts and turnovers
Operational performance metrics were not measured vs. the goal
Reasons for delays were not measured or understood
Communication disconnect between operations and physicians
Physiciansfelt like they couldn’t get their cases on the schedule in a timely fashion
Variance in the cost / case among physicians
Patient flow was disrupted due to lack of material availability

%

Reduction in Cost Per Case

%

Increase in First Case On-Time Starts

%

Decrease in Room Turnaround Time

- CEO

“Consultants tend to sound similar during the sales pitch; however, Carpedia actually delivered on the proposed results and timeline…The unique and collaborative physician engagement was a tremendous success in part because it has been a stumbling block for us in the past… as one of our Directors put it, ‘We no longer wait for the monthly financials to know whether we had a good month; we manage the numbers daily and weekly’… Carpedia has truly set themselves apart.”

Carpedia partnered with the hospital leaders to decrease supply costs and to increase lab utilization

Redesigned layout and coordination between Cardiac Observation Unit and Holding area nurses in order to increase outpatient cases
Created visibility to on-time start performance
Rolled out a phone communication app to notify physicians when the patient is ready for surgery
Adjusted case length scheduling parameters to reduce observed gaps between cases
Identified bulk buying opportunities to reduce prices
Developed tiered pricing structures
Managed appropriate SKU substitution
Re-stocking rooms in order to reduce instance of missing supplies

The Results

At the conclusion of the engagement, a cultural shift was evident as teamwork, collaboration and mutual accountability took form.

To ensure sustainability, steering committees were established to align allstakeholders, including physicians.

Specific results include:

2.3:1 Return on Investment
$2.6M in annualized savings (labor & supplies)
7% improvement in cost per case
Eliminated backlog with a sustained 11% case volume increase
First case on-time starts improved from 14% to 54% at one facility and from 14% to 69% at another(339% overall improvement)
Room turnaround time decreased by 31% for both locations