Many U.S. hospitals are struggling to keep pace with surgical demand. Fragmented scheduling, manual workflows and limited visibility into block utilization can stretch surgical backlogs into multi-month operational challenges that frustrate surgeons, strain staff and constrain growth. At Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center (PVHMC), a 427-bed nonprofit community hospital serving Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, a paper-based scheduling process had resulted in a two- to three-month surgical backlog. Following the implementation of predictive scheduling, the perioperative team cleared the backlog in 90 days, unified scheduling across the main OR, outpatient pavilion and GI clinics and realized measurable financial ROI within six months. During a webinar hosted by Becker’s Healthcare, Martha Soto, RN, director of perioperative services at PVHMC, and Maria J. Cortez, RN, nurse manager of surgery at the outpatient pavilion, shared how they partnered with LeanTaaS to transform operations.Here are four key takeaways from their discussion. 1. A single source of truthBefore implementing LeanTaaS’ iQueue for Operating Rooms, PVHMC ran 10 to 14 ORs on a paper-based system supported by emails, five different fax numbers and hard copies hand-delivered to the pre-admit testing clinic. Schedulers lacked real-time visibility into the day’s caseload, and physicians could not see when block time was available to release. Centralizing requests, documents and communications in one platform gave every stakeholder the same view of the schedule. “We are all on the same page, talking the same language and using one system for every service from booking to locating information,” Ms. Cortez said. “If…
