Academics / Undergraduate Program / Client Project Challenge / ProjectSimulating Turnaround Time to Get Rooms Ready for the Next Patient
June 13, 2024
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (Lurie Children’s), like all hospitals, can better serve patients by reducing the turnaround time of rooms. That is, reducing the time from when a patient leaves a room until the room is ready for the next patient. Reducing this time isn’t about reducing the cleaning time but minimizing the waiting time and planning around that.
Lurie Children’s sponsored a Client Project Challenge with Northwestern IEMS students to create a simulation model to understand the system and identify opportunities to reduce the downtime a room is waiting for cleaners.
Holly Schmidt, Director of Throughput Operations at Lurie’s, said “We appreciate the partnership with Northwestern. This project had great results. We are in the process of piloting the suggestions from the students.”
The NU team developed a detailed, discrete event simulation model aimed at optimizing the discharge room turnover process. This model focuses on identifying peak discharge times and ensuring optimal staffing levels throughout the week. It includes detailed arrival rates, distributions for discharge rooms, EVS staff availability, and room priority status. By running various what-if scenarios, the team evaluated the impact that different factors (queuing time, staff size) had on turnover time. The team proposed new staffing schedules to help reduce the waiting time. The solution also allows Lurie Children’s to look at alternative staff schedules in the future.
Tyler Moon, Sr. System Reporting Specialist, said, “The student team, Emilia, Juan, Marin, and Sahaana, all did an amazing job. They were great to work with. They came prepared to the meetings each week and prepared a validated simulation model which yielded great recommendations.”
The student team was Marin Clark, Emilia McDougal, Juan Oliva, and Sahaana Rajesh. The faculty advisor was Professor Moses Chan.
About Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago:
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center that provides and supports pediatric care in a setting that offers the latest benefits and innovations in medical technology, research, and family-friendly design.
As the largest pediatric provider in the region with a 140-year legacy of excellence, kids and their families are at the center of all we do.