Challenge:
Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC), home to the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing, provides a comprehensive array of the highest level of healthcare services to a population base of some 400,000 people in central and western Maine. The 250-bed facility is a member of the Central Maine Medical Family which also includes Bridgton and Rumford Hospitals.

Operating room personnel at CMMC, like OR staffs across the country, have faced intense financial pressures. It is estimated that 60% of a hospital’s total revenues and between 30% to 40% of a hospital’s total expenses come from surgical services alone. Hospital management pushes for streamlined operations in the perioperative department to increase case numbers and charge capture, seeking to maximize surgical revenues while also increasing patient safety and satisfaction.

Solution:
Central Maine implemented a perioperative solution from Surgical Information Systems (SIS) in 2002, and application analyst Janet Cyr immediately saw the value in utilizing customized reports from SIS to address many of the hospital’s financial concerns in the OR. Staff and block utilization reports allowed them to closely examine personnel scheduling and room usage.

Room turnover reports showed them where improvements could be made so that more cases could be scheduled each day. Delay code reporting pinpointed the most common reasons for delays, enabling those problems to be managed in an effort to decrease turnover times. Furthermore, time reports allowed them to reconcile with their billing software to ensure that they were capturing all charges.

Results:
With access to comprehensive data through customized SIS reports, CMMC staff quickly identified inefficiencies took steps to address them. By closely monitoring room turnover statistics they were able to reduce turnover time from an average of 50 minutes to 35 minutes – a 30% reduction in time. This allowed for more cases to be scheduled each day, ultimately resulting in a 9% increase in cases from FY 2007 to FY 2008.

By reconciling time reports with their billing software, CMMC staff significantly increased charge capture. Within five months they were able to capture $119,000 that may have been lost.

The ability to automatically assign average case time during scheduling allowed them to schedule more accurately, reducing wasted booking space. The use of procedure and preference cards through SIS improved materials management which further decreased costs and waste.

Additionally, defaulting information in the SIS system throughout the care process reduced errors, increased communication among staff and increased patient safety. This ultimately led to happier physicians, nurses and patients, along with a healthier revenue stream.

Testimonials:
"What I most value about the SIS Solution is it provides you with real data. I can deliver accurate undisputable numbers to leadership for proof of the business we are doing. It is not abstract. This allows us to show our strength and where we have improvement opportunities. For example Room Turn Over Time."

"It is imperative that we have real time results within the OR Department. There is no waiting. The OR is a critical department and the SIS documenting software needs to pull through. SIS definitely meets our needs."

Janet Cyr
Application Analyst