RTLS Tech, and Changes Learned From It, Save Hospital $1 Million Per Year

Adventist Health White Memorial overhauls operating room processes with real-time location system and RFID tags, trimming costs and improving patient satisfaction. Operating rooms typically account for a significant portion of a hospital’s expenses, not to mention as much as 70% of its revenue. This was certainly true at Adventist Health White Memorial.

When the hospital looked at its data, however, it found that unused operating rooms might be creating a strain on finances and operations. Staff recognized that turnaround times in the OR – and subsequent wait times were reducing surgical capacity, revenue and patient satisfaction.

“We also identified that our workflows relied heavily on manual data entry and communication between clinical and ancillary care teams, which often was inefficient and caused case delays,” said Randy Saad, director of perioperative services at Adventist Health White Memorial. “When there were case delays, communications about it often were disparate, which meant key stakeholders did not always receive timely notifications.”