Join the discussion on how smoothing elective surgical admissions can be an effective solution to solving the Emergency Room boarding crisis

“on average, 17 people die every day from the lack of available organs for transplant.” The major cause of this waste was a lack of available surgeons to perform surgery at the time needed to harvest and transplant donated organs.

With Canada’s health-care system “in crisis” as described by many front-line workers, there is a renewed push towards leaning on private facilities to ease the pressure on public hospitals.

Addressing systemic issues in the healthcare system with techniques like surgical smoothing will improve safety for our patients and nurses and ensure a more sustainable system for the long term

Expert says surgeries should be scheduled every day of the week

Surgical smoothing will ensure hospitals are better poised to respond to the pandemic and similar crises in the future.

With the pandemic overloading many emergency rooms and ICUs, the hospital isn’t always the best place to seek treatment for some ailments

Without addressing artificial variability and smoothing the flow of elective patients, hospitals will face an uphill battle to find the necessary capacity to provide adequate care to patients during the next COVID surge.

Watch IHO CEO Eugene Litvak talk about how to maximize patient flow efficiency to improve quality and access, and reduce the cost of care

Harvey Fineberg, Chair of the Standing Committee of the National Academies on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats, recommends that hospitals should smooth the flow of elective patients to improve capacity and reduce the cost of care during and after the pandemic.

Listen to how hospitals are using IHO Variability Methodology and surgical smoothing to prioritize patients and manage the surgical backlog

Applying IHO Variability Methodology and surgical smoothing can dramatically improve the hospital's ability to manage resources efficiently to pare down the surgical backlog created by the pandemic.

IHO has developed Variability Methodology® that focuses on reducing variability in hospital operations, and use advanced operations management and data analysis methods to optimize operational efficiency, patient safety, and fiscal responsibility.

Given the urgent need for large-scale testing, split-pool testing might be the better approach says IHO CEO.

Eugene Litvak specializes in improving patient flow — from intake to discharge — which has worsened to crisis levels during the pandemic

U.S. hospitals are predicted to lose more than $200 billion in revenue by June 30, according to a report by the American Hospital Association. The industry group estimates the total revenue hit from the pandemic at about $50 billion a month among health-care facilities since March.

Artificial peaks and valleys in hospital demand, driven by planned surgeries, foster health care delivery that endangers patients, reduces access to care, puts pressure on clinicians at some times, and results in underutilization of health care resources at others.

Nurses that are overwhelmed with excessive patient loads will not be able to provide adequate patient care. Legislation can't fix hospital overcrowding. Better scheduling of surgeries can.

National adoption of patient flow optimization practices has the potential to reduce total U.S. per capita spending “by 4-5%", which amounts to $140 to $180 billion a year.

Experts outline 5 key steps for finding extra hospital capacity.

An operations management specialist is applying lessons from statistics to help free up hospital beds. It’s working.

Optimizing Patient Flow: Advanced Strategies for Managing Variability to Enhance Access, Quality, and Safety

IHO Variability Methodology® helped Newark Beth Israel Medical Center save $10 million in just three months by improving patient flow, quality and efficiency.