Surgical volume in U.S. hospitals keeps going up because the population is getting older, more people have chronic illnesses, and surgical techniques are getting better. Operating rooms are now very busy and expensive places. They need exact scheduling to make sure they are used well without putting patient safety at risk. Bad scheduling can cause unused operating room time, surgery delays, longer waits for patients, and lost money.
Banner Health, a big health system in the U.S., recently expanded their use of technology to help automate and improve how they schedule operating rooms. The technology, made by Qventus, works with Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and uses machine learning to automate scheduling. It finds unused OR time and reallocates it to patients who need it. Banner Health reported big improvements in using their OR time and saw a good return on investment from this system. On average, clients using this technology break even in three months and make six times their investment over time.
Allina Health, another health system in the U.S., increased their surgical cases by 3.5 per OR each month after using this technology. These changes show how automation and personalized programs can help solve scheduling problems in operating rooms.
One reason Qventus’ technology stands out is because it focuses on personalization. Unlike older scheduling tools that use the same method for all hospitals, this software lets hospital leaders set priorities that fit their specific needs. Clients can adjust the model to focus on patient needs, surgeon preferences, and case difficulty. This method makes sure OR resources are used not just for high volume, but for the right volume that fits the hospital’s goals and abilities.
Mudit Garg, CEO of Qventus, says this customization is a key difference from competitors like LeanTaaS. The system takes into account surgeon preferences, such as their scheduling habits and availability, and it automatically finds conflicts. This cuts down the work for staff and makes scheduling more accurate and efficient.
Hospital IT managers like this personalized approach because it allows flexibility to change rules based on surgical demand or resource shifts. Hospitals can set priorities like giving more access to urgent cases or balancing robotic surgeries. The technology can respond to these changes, supporting the hospital’s overall goals.
How easy a technology is to use matters a lot when hospitals try new IT systems. Software that is hard to use can make users frustrated and cause mistakes and delays. This hurts patient care and surgery efficiency.
Moses Kadaei, a healthcare technology content creator, says Surgical Information Systems (SIS) need user-friendly designs because surgical work is fast and complex. He points out that hard-to-use features like confusing menus and unclear steps slow things down and hurt patient outcomes.
In surgery, time is very important. Usability is not just a nice feature but a must-have. The Qventus system helps by showing only the scheduling options that matter, based on surgeon preferences and available OR slots. This lowers the mental effort for schedulers and doctors, reducing common mistakes and making scheduling faster and clearer.
Medical practice administrators find that systems combining usability with personalization cut training time and get better staff involvement. Easy systems lead to more consistent and correct schedules, which helps with resource use and patient access to surgery.
Operating room scheduling tools need to work smoothly with a hospital’s current software. Integration with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and other hospital systems is important for smooth data sharing and clinical work. If software parts don’t communicate well, patient data gets split up and scheduling becomes harder.
Research on Surgical Information Systems shows that integration problems are a big reason some hospitals don’t fully use these tools. Complex connections between SIS, EMRs, imaging devices (like MRI and CT scans), and inventory systems can cause work delays or duplicate efforts. That’s why hospitals look for perioperative tech with cloud platforms that can safely and reliably sync with different systems.
This was one reason Banner Health chose to expand Qventus after a successful test. Automating scheduling and pulling patient records, surgeon calendars, and procedure data directly from the EHR helped staff assign OR time faster and reduce unused slots.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are now key for effective OR scheduling automation. Smart systems analyze large amounts of past and current data to predict surgery needs, find free OR times, and change schedules to use rooms better.
At Banner Health, the perioperative system uses machine learning to learn from scheduling habits and surgeon preferences. It can spot scheduling conflicts, suggest the best order for surgeries, and recommend changes if there are cancellations or delays. This lowers the need for manual fixes and helps managers make better, data-backed decisions.
Dr. Nirav Patel of Banner Health says AI automation helped them see when OR time wasn’t used and made that time available to patients who needed surgery sooner. This improved how the hospital worked and helped patients get care faster.
Across U.S. hospitals, AI workflow automation helps surgery departments handle more cases without needing to build more ORs or hire lots more staff. It helps keep up with patient needs by managing resources better.
AI also helps hospitals keep improving by showing how their OR and surgeon performance compares to others. This helps find chances to send cases to certain surgeons or move complex surgeries to special centers, improving hospital efficiency and patient care.
Hospitals using AI perioperative tech have seen big financial and operational benefits. Qventus clients often recover their costs in about three months and typically get six times their investment back over time.
ThedaCare, another U.S. health system, spent $3 million on Qventus tech in 2022 after seeing good results in automating workflows and boosting efficiency. This shows health leaders trust AI scheduling tools to deliver clear money savings.
By making the most of OR time and cutting downtime, these systems let hospitals do more surgeries without adding costly new buildings. This helps hospitals earn more and gives patients better access to surgeries in busy healthcare areas.
Tailored Solutions: Pick systems that can be customized to match your hospital’s clinical goals, workflow needs, and surgeon schedules. Standard, fixed systems often don’t fit well.
Usability: Choose software that is easy for schedulers and clinicians to use with little training and few mistakes.
Integration Capabilities: Make sure the system works smoothly with your EMRs, surgery tracking tools, and imaging systems for good data flow and workflow.
AI and Automation Features: Look for technology with strong AI to automate routine scheduling, predict demand, and flag problems early.
Financial Impact: Think about return on investment. Many U.S. systems break even fast and get big financial benefits after installing these systems.
Operating rooms are one of the most important but complex parts of healthcare facilities. Using personalized, user-friendly, and AI-supported scheduling tools can help hospitals in the U.S. handle more surgeries while keeping quality and efficiency. Systems used by Banner Health and Allina Health show that focusing on the right use of resources through advanced analytics and machine learning can improve both patient care and hospital results.
Banner Health is deploying Qventus’ perioperative technology, which integrates with EHRs and utilizes machine learning to automate operating room scheduling processes and maximize surgical caseloads.
Banner Health decided to scale Qventus’ technology due to rising surgical demand and the success observed from an initial pilot, which resulted in a double-digit return on investment.
The benefits include increased OR time, improved efficiency, the ability to predict patient needs, and insights into OR and surgeon performance.
The technology identifies where OR time is going unused, allowing managers to free up those spaces for patients who need timely surgical care.
On average, Qventus customers see a sixfold return on investment, with many breaking even within three months of implementing the technology.
Qventus personalizes client relationships by understanding their strategic priorities, allowing for fine-tuning of solutions and configurations specific to each client’s requirements.
LeanTaaS is identified as Qventus’ main competitor in the perioperative technology space.
Qventus focuses on optimizing not just for utilization but for the right utilization, ensuring resources are allocated to appropriate patients and surgeons.
Qventus’ software considers built-in surgeon preferences and conflicts, ensuring that only relevant scheduling options are surfaced to users.
ThedaCare invested $3 million in Qventus in 2022, indicating significant confidence in the company’s perioperative technology.
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