‘Mission control’ center seeks to get Oregonians hospital care quicker
The Lund Report
17 Sep 2024
According to the Lund Report, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) has led the evolution of capacity management across the system and the state since 2017. Realizing that trying to meet patient demand using outdated data on a whiteboard was not sustainable, they collaborated with GE HealthCare to gain access to real-time data for patient care coordination.
That system became the foundation for the Oregon Medical Coordination Center, which works with the Oregon Health Authority and other hospital systems to monitor bed and resource capacity for the entire state. Better hospital management enables patients in urban and rural areas to get the care they need with the goal of keeping patients in their community as often as possible. One challenge the control center helps address is “How do we get you back into your community earlier, so that you have a healing environment?” said Matthias Merkel, OHSU senior associate chief medical officer for capacity management and patient flow.
That system became the foundation for the Oregon Medical Coordination Center, which works with the Oregon Health Authority and other hospital systems to monitor bed and resource capacity for the entire state. Better hospital management enables patients in urban and rural areas to get the care they need with the goal of keeping patients in their community as often as possible. One challenge the control center helps address is “How do we get you back into your community earlier, so that you have a healing environment?” said Matthias Merkel, OHSU senior associate chief medical officer for capacity management and patient flow.