Canterbury DHB

Key outcomes sought by Canterbury District Health Board were to improve the ability to provide effective patient care; ensure the beds and staffing were rostered accurately; and, eliminate avoidable staffing costs.

For over three years, Canterbury District Health Board have received CapPlan Planning and Advisory Services ranging from daily capacity reporting through to one-off Theatre modeling and Accident and Emergency redesign capacity input. CapPlan Software has been integrated into systems and is now a key and integral part of bed management and production planning on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis.

Through CapPlan, accurate forecasts of future Inpatient Bed Occupancy are achieved. CapPlan Planner is then used to plan and set the right resourced beds to meet patent workload. CapPlan forecasts have been at least 95% accurate over the three years and, as a result, staff costs have been aligned to workloads. A return on investment from CapPlan was achieved through reduced costs within a few months of installation.

The effect of using CapPlan, in conjunction with other change initiatives, has benefited Canterbury District Health Board in the following ways:

1 Staffing costs have been reduced by 10% in the first year and maintained for subsequent years
2 Elective throughput has improved
3 Gridlock occurances have been reduced significantly (60%)
4 Special events have been accurately forecasted and successfully planned for, well in advance.

Canterbury District Health Board continues to see improvements in efficiency and has provided anecdotal evidence that staff satisfaction and patient care have improved significantly.

The Canterbury District Health Board would be pleased to talk with you regarding CapPlan and the benefits it can produce. As a CapPlan reference site, CDHB holds workshops and conferences, and can host visits by arrangement. In the first instance, please contact Gabriella Barbara at Emendo to arrange contact with CDHB. Gabriella can be contacted on +64 3 379 6662 or gabriella.barbara@emendo.co.nz