Hospital Bed Management

At first glance, hospital bed tracking looks to be a simple and straightforward exercise. If you manage a large medical institution or a network of hospitals, you know that bed tracking is more challenging than it appears. Due to low bed visibility, neglected bed care, and a lack of integrated information, it may be difficult to keep track of available beds. Here’s a look at some of today’s most critical bed-related concerns, as well as how a real-time hospital bed management system could help your facility succeed.

What are some of the most serious issues that hospitals have with bed management?

The first step toward better hospital bed management is to understand the issues that today’s hospitals face. Some of the primary concerns that have a negative impact on a hospital’s HCAHPS rating and revenue are as follows:

A bottleneck occurs when the demand for services cannot be satisfied efficiently at a point in the patient’s care journey. Patient treatment must be postponed as a result of the delays in services.” Patrice Spath, RHIT, Adjunct Professor at the University of Alabama in Birmingham

Patient flow bottlenecks are at the top of the list of hospital difficulties because they have a direct impact on patient satisfaction and profitability. They occur when the demand for beds or a certain healthcare service exceeds the capacity of the facility. If bottlenecks are not cleared, they can have a negative impact on the entire patient care experience.

2) In the bed, there is a lack of visibility.

The inability to accurately anticipate the number of available beds has a major impact on hospital bed management. Hospitals without real-time data on available beds are compelled to guess how many beds are available in each department based on outdated information.

If the number is underestimated, patients may have to wait because open beds remain vacant.

Furthermore, underestimating the number of available beds may result in patient unhappiness if they are transferred to beds that are already occupied.

3) Mattresses with faults

No piece of hospital equipment is completely immune to failure. However, when a hospital bed breaks down, the expenditures are multiplied because the patient room remains empty until the bed is repaired or replaced. Faults are frequently caused by worn components, operational errors, and gaps in preventative maintenance.

4) Cancellations of surgeries

“We never take surgery cancellations lightly…

We can’t operate on patients if we don’t have a place to put them, and we had to cancel these cancer surgeries due to a lack of intensive care beds.” — Leicester NHS Trust Chief Executive John Adler

Surgery cancellations due to a lack of available beds adds stress and annoyance to an already stressful scenario for patients. Several patients’ treatments have been cancelled twice due to bed shortages and visibility issues. Patients frequently take medications and fast in preparation for surgery, only to learn at the last minute that no beds are available.

5) Beds that have been stolen or are missing

Florida VA Hospitals reported over $5 million in lost medical equipment in 2019. From PCs to a $25,000 eye scanner, a wide range of devices have been reported missing or stolen. With new FDA-approved electric hospital beds costing over $10,000 and most professionally refurbished hospital beds costing over $2,000, hospitals cannot afford to lose beds to theft or misplacement.

6) Cash-flow issues

A hospital’s weak cash flow is exacerbated by poor patient flow, cancelled surgeries, and a lack of preventive maintenance. When revenue expectations are not exceeded, hospitals are unable to expand services or invest in new technology. As a result, the competitive advantage of a hospital is eroded.

What are the most significant advantages of a hospital’s real-time bed management system?

Addressing the aforementioned issues is no longer an option for hospital administrators; it is a requirement. A growing number of hospitals are turning to real-time bed management solutions like Simon AI to speed up their searches for available beds and keep track of the bed’s maintenance history. Here are a few of the most important advantages of a real-time bed management system.

1) Increase the flow of patients.

Access to bed information in real time helps to avoid bottlenecks and delays. “Use of Technology to Enhance Care,” according to Thom Mayer, M.D., Executive Vice President of Envision Physician Services, is one of the top five approaches for improving patient flow.

2) Quickly locate the location of a bed.

Because of bed visibility automation, clinical workers are no longer forced to rely on obsolete information or error-prone human notes. They can tell whether a bed is in the ward, the hospital’s post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), or a patient room in a matter of seconds. Additionally, because they are no longer need to physically visit locations within a hospital to assure bed availability, centralised bed authority may be able to devote more time to communicating with units about the needs of new patients.

3) Fewer procedures are postponed

By improving bed tracking and visibility, a large hospital can save millions of dollars by reducing the number of cancelled surgeries. The number of delayed and cancelled procedures at The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) was projected to be 7,500 per year, resulting in a $5.9 million loss. Through better bed management, many of these costs are returned to the hospital budget.

4) Adequate bed maintenance

Preventive maintenance should be performed at least once a year by a certified biomedical engineer or technician. Offsite or in a designated area within a hospital, maintenance is regularly performed. When beds are removed for routine maintenance, Simon AI maintains track of it. Additionally, if a bed is not removed for servicing within the prescribed time limit, the platform’s notification engine can send an alarm to employees.

5) The number of beds that have gone missing or been stolen has decreased.

Users can use real-time bed management systems like Simon AI to track down missing hospital beds, which allows them to quickly discover the last location of any tagged hospital bed mississauga. Users can also examine the bed’s whole location history to determine who may have moved it. Finally, users can help prevent theft by setting up notifications to alert staff when a bed is moved out of the hospital or out of a designated zone.

6) Increased productivity of healthcare workers

Large hospitals typically employ teams of 50 or more bed managers who spend the majority of their days making phone calls and sending faxes to various departments vying for a share of the available beds.” – Harvard Business Review’s Minoo Javanmardian and Aditya Lingampally

Staffing time spent seeking available beds has been greatly reduced by the installation of Simon AI. As a result, clinical staff can spend more time caring for patients and less time seeking for available beds. As a result, efficiency has improved and staffing costs have decreased.

7) Enhance the patient experience

Improved patient experience is by far the most important benefit of a real-time bed management technology. By optimising patient flow, minimising the number of cancelled procedures, and reducing bed wait times, patients are able to complete their treatment faster and with a higher level of satisfaction.

Learn how the Internet of Things is assisting healthcare providers in resolving both simple and complex issues.

What is a bed management solution based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and how does it work?

A BLE-based management solution can provide users with real-time information on the position of a bed. The solution is easy to use and only takes a few pieces of equipment.

A Simon AI subscription, Bluetooth LE devices from Kontakt.io, and Bluetooth LE Gateways are all required. Compatible third-party devices and WiFi network infrastructures will also suffice.

The system is up and running in no time once users connect a Bluetooth tag to each bed in the hospital. Simon AI is also device agnostic and compatible with a variety of third-party apps. The technique can be divided into four simple steps:

Preparation is the first step. Using a computer terminal, create a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) identification tag for each hospital bed.

The second step is to tag. Securely attach the BLE tag to each bed.

The third phase is placement. Place the bed in the relevant hospital department.

Step 4: Keep an eye out for it. Put the bed’s identification number into the Simon search bar to identify it and receive real-time data.
Once you’ve integrated Simon AI, you can take your bed management to the next level by gathering and analysing data on your beds. You may, for example, figure out which areas are most prone to delays and adjust your staffing and procedures accordingly. Location and pattern recognition can also be used to start automated processes. You can set up an email alert if 365 days pass without a bed being taken from the ward for servicing.