Managing production and capacity and keeping a hold on planning

Managing production and capacity, keeping a hold on planning. All this may sound obvious and logical, but it certainly is not easy. Various factors create a complex puzzle for hospitals. And things are not getting any easier with all the major challenges of our time, including staff shortages. This is why Flevo Hospital in Almere uses the digital solution Capacity. 

Danien van Keulen has worked at Flevo Hospital for over thirteen years. She has worked as a consultant in the Integrated Capacity Management (ICM) department for a year and a half. “Before that, I was a team manager in a different department. ICM caught my interest when it was introduced to several departments. So I took the plunge and started working in the ICM department!”

A better hold and greater insights

Flevo Hospital is located in a growing city. This brings challenges: how can you ensure that you can continue to cope with the growing demand for hospital care with increasingly limited capacity, including in terms of staff? Among other issues, today there is a need for software that can link production, finance and capacity together, with the aim of maintaining a better hold on capacity planning and integrated control of the primary care process. This results in better patient service, improved quality of care, reduced ad hoc work and stress, and a financially healthy hospital.

We can use data to make predictions for better capacity planning that better matches healthcare demand in the region.

Danien van Keulen | Integral Capacity Management consultant

Flevo Hospital has been using the Capacity software for all departments, outpatient clinics, operating theatres and clinics for several years. Danien: “This capacity software helps us gain more insight into the care provided and trends over the past period. Based on that data, we can look back and make predictions. We aim to use pre-collected knowledge to improve capacity planning that better matches the healthcare demand in the Almere region.”

Using resources more efficiently

Danien explains how this capacity software can be used to create annual plans. “At a departmental level, the production budget is drawn up with the business controller. The production budget states how many patients with which diagnoses the department expects to see in the coming year. Using the production capacity software, we then calculate things such as the number of outpatient appointments, surgeries and admissions/beds we will need.”

Using available resources more efficiently is a key focus for Flevo Hospital. “The software supports us in this, it gives insight. After all, scheduling is quite a complicated puzzle for polyclinics, for example. In many departments, operating theatre capacity is always the deciding factor. All the remaining capacity is then outpatient time.

With the help of the software, we can accurately estimate the required outpatient time. This way, we can quickly see whether the released capacity also meets what is needed. Of course, it may differ from what is currently on offer as waiting lists can increase or decrease. This makes things quite complicated.”

Learning from one another

Danien talks about the ‘formation module’ to calculate how many hours a doctor should or could spend individually on certain tasks. “A doctor does more than just clinical consultations or operations in a single day. We have mapped all these different tasks to get a clear, broader picture of the division of time. This way, we can see whether that production fits within the available number of FTEs. Thanks to this categorisation, we now have an overview of all the unique tasks and processes within the departments.”
The hospital will use this knowledge in the coming period to have constructive discussions. With a commitment to having the insights gained contribute to pleasant working days; with less stress, fewer ad hoc tasks, and more structure and peace. “These insights will allow our professional groups to learn from one another. As a hospital, we want to take good care of our staff. This also means knowing what is required of medical staff. To really harness all the insights and get a group of people on board, a clear consultative structure across different levels is important. This software alone is not enough.”

Breaking patterns

The pitfall in any organisation is that people continue to do what they were already doing out of habit. Capacity’s software can help break that pattern. “During consultation hours, for example. Consultations are organised per patient group. But if some of the expected patients do not come, spots remain open and you have some time left. By making that transparent and adjusting the consultation time, for example, planners are informed in good time while the doctor has full consultation hours and less ad hoc and follow-up work.”

Danien cites the pulmonary diseases department in her hospital as a great example. “The polyclinic had a waiting list with many repeat patients. The main cause of this was the COVID-19 pandemic. With better understanding and management, the department was able to significantly reduce the entire waiting list within six to nine months!”

Greater clarity for patients

Ultimately, the big win is that Flevo Hospital can focus even better on the patient care required. “We can make clear choices where necessary. This gives more certainty, including for referring GPs. We can quickly and easily inform GPs of any waiting lists. And that gives more clarity for the patient!”

If you would like more information about Capacity or our other solutions within the Enovation Platform, we would be happy to discuss this with you further.