Hospital Command Centers—Centralizing Care Coordination

As care delivery becomes more complex, finding ways to coordinate patient care across the continuum is one of the most important challenges facing healthcare institutions today and the reason hospital command centers are central to a health system’s organizational strategy.

A December 2018 study by the global research firm KLAS reports that TeleTracking has built more Command Centers than all other vendors combined.

To download the eBook: How Hospital Command Centers are Fulfilling the Mission—No Patient Waits, complete the form to the right.

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Over 100+ Hospital Command Centers powered by TeleTracking

The weighty challenges facing health care require bold solutions.

$100 billion lost in operational inefficiency.

37,000 deaths each year correlate with emergency department boarding, while at the same time hospitals are experiencing $100 billion in operational inefficiency.

Alignment & Transparency Across the Care Continuum

Access:

Rapidly evaluates and documents patient referral and transfer requests, coordinates physician hand-offs and EMS dispatch, and communicates with referring and accepting care teams so that patients can transition to new care settings, have a positive experience, and receive timely access to the care they need.

EMS Dispatch:

Works hand-in-hand with access team members to ensure timely patient transport by facilitating the coordination of ground and air transport based on requests and patient conditions.

Registration:

Performs patient registration activities for patients entering through the hospital command center to promote expedient, effective patient access. Updates and maintains patient information as necessary throughout the continuum of care.

Patient Placement:

Ensures that patients are placed in the right bed, facilitates timely discharges, sets resource priorities to free up needed capacity, and manages patient throughput so the system can meet the needs of current and projected patient demand.

EVS & Transport:

Work closely with patient placement to ensure optimum throughput, ensures timely bed cleans and patient transport, and tracks to improve performance.

OR Procedures

Manages patient throughput in procedural areas to minimize delays, coordinates schedules in advance and re-prioritizes in real-time when needed to optimize OR resources.

Command Center Director:

Manages overall system operations using data and analytics to: predict and prevent bottlenecks and constraints, rapidly see and solve problems, drive accountability, ensure compliance and timely reporting to key stakeholders, provide visibility to C-suite to support strategic business planning.

Case Management:

Responsible for utilization review of non-emergent transfers and direct admissions to ensure appropriate patient status upon admission. Works closely with hospital command center staff and key stakeholders to maintain appropriate level of care status and movement of patients. Actively reviews patient information to ensure efficient, effective flow of patients throughout the continuum of care.

Telemedicine:

The use of telecommunication and information technology to provide clinical health care to overcome distance barriers and to improve access to medical services that are often not available in distant rural communities.

EICU:

A method of delivering care to critically ill patients in remote hospitals by critical care specialists who work in a central location. Data on patients (including historical information, physical exam findings, hemodynamics, laboratory test results, and radiologic images) sent from satellite hospitals are transmitted to and from the bedside to eICU staff who can then adjust care plans accordingly.

Behavioral Health:

Pertains to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health, substance abuse, and associated physical disorders. Typically consists of integrated delivery of care by psychiatrists, primary care physicians, social workers, and other healthcare professionals. Allows for easy communication and collaboration with appropriate disciplines to facilitate efficient and timely assignments using defined policies and procedures.

Home to Home:

A Story About how a Hospital Command Center Impacts the Patient Journey

01.

During an office visit, Mr. Smith has a neurological episode. 911 is dispatched and he is transported to the nearest hospital.

02.

Emergency medicine and neurology teams are alerted so they can assess him upon arrival. He is immediately transferred from the ED to an available bed in the NeuroICU that was pre-assigned when the health system command center learned of his symptoms.

03.

After two days in the NeuroICU, Mr. Smith met all the stroke care milestones and was transferred to an available bed in the neurology unit.

04.

Smith’s expected length of stay was eight days. Because his patient ID bracelet was equipped with Real Time Location System (RTLS) capabilities, each step of his care was tracked and time-stamped.

05.

To read the rest of Mr. Smith's patient journey, download the Command Center brochure.

This could be you.