Reference SRH Kliniken GmbH - OP Simulation
Improving Treatment Quality and Profitability: Solely in Terms of the Employees and Patients
Initial Situation and Project Goals
Located in the idyllic urban forest of Gera, the SRH Wald-Klinikum Gera (Gera forest clinic) is setting its course for the future: An overall refurbishment totaling €160 million makes this clinic one of the most modern new hospital buildings in Thuringia. The exact dimensions and arrangement of the rooms are determined by both the subsequent operating costs and the investment costs.
For this reason, these decisions must be made in the early planning stage based on fact and with verification. Finely coordinated and clear - cut procedures are essential for the trouble - free commissioning of the new buildings. Rooms and staff assignment must be carefully and precisely coordinated to achieve an increase in quality and productivity.
“As an innovative health care provider, we face the challenge of serving our patients and their health care needs each and every day, while at the same time ensuring profitability. Process optimization in the surgery division enables us to perform more operations each year, because we have reduced waiting times and redundancies and harmonized our procedures. In this way, we improve the quality of treatment for our patients and can care for them more quickly and more effectively. This is how we envision improvements!”
Prof. Klaus Hekking, Chairman of the Managing Board of SRH Holding
Tasks of UNITY
Working together with clinic employees, the consultants of UNITY have used process analysis to identify and evaluate various areas of potential that are relevant for the surgery procedure.
Using a computer- assisted simulation model, UNITY mapped out the rooms of the clinic, added the procedures and real data, and showed the effects of individual changes to the areas of potential in a manner that could be seen and measured. Special attention was paid to the planning of operations and to utilization of the operating rooms and employees. The mockup of the complex procedure using the simulation model allows all of the organizational steps and process measures to be changed like set screws and readjusted over and over again with respect to the objectives. The comprehensive catalog of actions derived from this enables SRH Wald - Klinikum Gera to achieve its goals and monitor them on its own.
Benefits for the Client
The results of the project have already been implemented at SRH Wald - Klinikum Gera. A punctual start to the work day in the mornings, a more flexible shift model and a reduction of changeover times are all good examples. This harmonization results in the additional capacity to handle 1,800 operations per year and facilitates the projected increase in number of cases. Overall, optimization of the surgery division results in additional earnings of € 6 million per year, 70 % fewer canceled operations, and increases in utilization of the surgical team to over 90 %, with utilization of resources being kept constant.
SRH Kliniken GmbH
SRH Kliniken GmbH is one of the leading German hospital chains, with over 5,500 employees and sales of approx. € 360 million per year. It is part of a group managed by SRH Holding. This company unites education and health in a unique way and realizes more than € 500 million in both sectors. Within the health care sector, SRH operates seven clinics in Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg, of which six are acute hospitals and one is a rehabilitation clinic.
SRH Wald - Klinikum Gera
Wald - Klinikum Gera has been part of SRH since 2003. With 959 total beds and 23 independent specialist and subareas of medicine, it is the largest hospital in the region. Each year approximately 35,000 patients are treated on an inpatient basis and approximately 50,000 are treated on an outpatient basis by more than 1,700 employees.
