Case Study: University of Louisville Health

Centralized operations, improved collaboration, and optimized patient throughput

Challenge

As a five-year-old health system in the growth phase, UofL Health sought to become the ‘system of yes’ during a time when many hospitals were declining patients due to capacity. UofL Health wanted to increase patient volume, smooth admissions across the system, reduce leakage, and decrease average length of stay by 0.5 days.

Solution

• Implemented a centralized transfer center powered by TeleTracking’s Operations Platform. The center includes:
  • System Medical Director to oversee escalations and support relationships with physician teams
  • New workflows and expectations for transfer center staff to decrease leakage
  • On going education for transfer center staff, including implementation of call scripting
  • Patient placement coordinator role added to support efficient placement processes
• Prioritized transfer center collaboration with care management, nursing and UofL Health staffing
• Implemented multi-disciplinary rounding on units and standard workflows to improve access and discharge milestones
• Establish executive Patient Flow Council meetings at each facility across the enterprise
• Utilized TeleTracking’s Data & Analytics Platform to delivery reports and dashboards supporting the patient flow strategy, including system wide visibility for leadership

Results

Since implementing the centralized transfer center, UofL Health has achieved:

• 15% increase in transfer volume
• 35%reduction in system leakage
• 25% increase in patient transfers to regional facilities
• 25% increase in cath lab volume at regional facility due to increase in patient volume
• 50 minute reduction in moving ICU patients to stepdown units, improving capacity in critical care services

Lessons Learned

from UofL Health Executive Team

• Leadership involvement is imperative, as is data, to drive and sustain change
• Appointing a Medical Director to the transfer center to oversee escalations and support relationships with physician teams is essential
• Leverage your nurses’ expertise and clinical knowledge to drive Transfer Center placements
• Become a system of ‘yes’ and your volume and acceptance rates will go up

UofL Health Overview

Located in Louisville, Kentucky, University of Louisville Health (UofL Health) is a fully integrated regional academic health system with 9 hospitals, 4 medical centers, a cancer center, eye institute, nearly 200 physician practices, and more than 1,000 providers in Louisville and the surrounding counties, including southern Indiana.

Operational Platform: TeleTracking
EMR: Cerner
Total Acute Beds: 1,560
TeleTracking Partner Since: 2019