Cardiac careflow optimization at Heart Hospital TaUH 

To establish a baseline, the Philips consultants began by collecting and reviewing data provided by the hospital regarding turnover time, equipment/resource utilization, start time, and distribution of exams. Philips’ unique careflow mapping methodology was employed to create an overview of the cardiac flow as well as heart surgery flow in the hospital. Additionally, the Philips team conducted interviews with 25-30 stakeholders onsite, consisting of physicians, nurses, support staff, administrators, management and patients. Perspectives about their experiences were discussed in detail, summarized and incorporated into the experience flow maps. The consultants worked closely with a Heart Hospital TaUH project group, consisting of department heads and a cardiac operation manager, on a day-to-day basis and a steering group for project oversight.

The careflow maps including identified areas of improvement, were shared with several stakeholder groups and validated during an “open house” workshop. This validation process was a key element in prioritizing the list of potential improvement areas. Consensus in the cardiology and cardiac surgery workshop demonstrated the following three improvement areas as standouts.

1. Initiate performance improvement, aimed at:
   • increasing room utilization for interventional cath labs and cardiac operating room
   • reducing turnover times in cardiac operating room
   • increasing first case on-time percentage 
2. Expand the role of nursing, 
   to allow physicians to perform core activities only they can do.
3. Streamline workflow, 
   by creating strong integration between IT systems, eliminating dual (manual) entry of data.