In this article, Dr. Matthias Merkel, Senior Associate Chief Medical Officer for Capacity Management and Patient Flow at Oregon Health & Science University Health discusses how command center technology is improving care delivery for the four-hospital healthcare system in Portland, Oregon and beyond.
Dr. Merkel shares how OSHU is mitigating the issue of bed demand outstripping supply with the deployment of a command center. By providing access to up-to-the minute information pulled from the EMR and other systems and facilitating collaboration between interdisciplinary teams, the command center has added capacity equivalent to an 18-bed unit – all attributed to improving system-wide efficiencies.
The artificial intelligence used by the command center is a revolution in medicine. Algorithms provide insights about where patients should be admitted, when wait times are longer than ideal and forecasts about future patient care needs.
OHSU also uses tele-ICU technology that has enabled a centralized ICU team to support remote OSHU facilities and consult with hospitals outside of the OHSU system.
The command center technology at OSHU is the foundation for the first statewide capacity management system. Hospitals across Oregon share data and manage capacity needs with this real-time bed tracker. That collaboration where there is typically competition is a source of pride and ensures better healthcare delivery for the people of Oregon.