H*Works Partner Success Stories
H*Works has a proven track record of results from our 900+ nationwide engagements, shown in the map below.
Optimizing Revenue Cycle Performance
- An academic medical center had a 55.6% ratio of self-pay revenue outstanding to total self-pay revenue with a $24 million opportunity affecting the bottom line. Significant opportunity existed to shift bad debt to charity care and improve point-of-service cash collections in the ED, with 22% of ED patients identified as self-pay. H*Works redesigned front-end processes to increase ED POS collections by 250%, yielding a 12% increase in average monthly gross revenues.
- A 300-bed hospital in the Midwest had accounts receivable days at the national average, but above best practice. The hospital partnered with H*Works to create pre-certification protocols, a new charge audit and reconciliation process, comprehensive denials management, and a hardwired ED-checkout process. The hospital identified $200,000 in missing charges each month of the engagement and witnessed a seven-day reduction in accounts receivable days.
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Competing for Profitable Cases
- A large academic medical center with dedicated orthopedic ORs was experiencing orthopedic surgeon dissatisfaction due to delays in turnover processes. H*Works partnered with the hospital to redesign the core perioperative processes, resulting in a 28% improvement in closure-to-incision time and a 54% improvement in patient-out-to-patient-in time.
- An 850-bed hospital in the Southeast had the majority of OR cases delayed (only 38% started within five minutes). The hospital partnered with H*Works to improve on-time starts, OR utilization, and profitability by redesigning core processes and creating a shared culture of accountability with staff, surgeons, and anesthesiologists. At the end of the engagement, 52% of the cases started on time, and six months post-engagement improvements were still continuing, with 72% of cases starting on time.
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Maximizing Patient Access and Throughput
- A community hospital with 53,000 annual ED visits had wait times hovering at close to four hours in the ED, leading to a 4% leave-without-being-seen (LWBS) rate. H*Works partnered with the hospital to expedite the triage process, eliminate registration bottlenecks, and fast-track low-acuity patients. Wait times decreased by 80 minutes, lowering the LWBS rate to 1.9%.
- A 675-bed community hospital in the Midwest had experienced in one fiscal year a 46% increase in LWBS rate, 17,000 hold hours in their emergency department, and 272 hours on diversion. H*Works partnered with the hospital to expedite the bed placement process and eliminate bottlenecks associated with admissions. As a result of the engagement, the hospital experienced a 46% decrease in LWBS rate, a 54% reduction in ED hold hours, and a 99% reduction in diversion hours.
- A 100-bed community hospital in the Southeast had seen rising length of stay (LOS) among top DRGs. Root cause analysis conducted by H*Works determined that undefined care coordination roles and a convoluted discharge planning process were at fault. H*Works partnered with the hospital to implement an organizational effectiveness strategy that clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and processes for nurses, social workers, case managers, and physicians. The hospital witnessed a 0.5-day reduction in LOS for the targeted DRGs.
- A community hospital with spiking ED and inpatient volumes wanted to ensure throughput processes were in place as they planned for expansion. H*Works conducted a survey of their physicians and found that more than 60% of those surveyed noted having experienced trouble admitting patients to the hospital due to lack of beds. H*Works partnered with the hospital to improve the discharge processes so beds could be freed up earlier in the day. The changes yielded a four-hour improvement in discharge time.
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Optimizing Labor Productivity Performance
- A 280-bed pediatric hospital located in an urban area, with RN vacancy rates significantly higher than national averages (28% versus 11%), partnered with H*Works to enhance nurse recruitment. H*Works exceeded the goals of the 100-day campaign on Day 42, with 103 new staff hired. The average time to fill an RN position decreased by 66 days, reducing the vacancy rate from 28% to 10.7%.
- A 600-bed tertiary care facility in the Midwest was battling high RN turnover along with rising volumes. H*Works initiated a Staff-Led Productivity Challenge, which solicited staff ideas to improve efficiencies. H*Works also conducted education sessions with staff and managers around performance targets, metrics, and work redesign changes. Staff-generated ideas led to over $1 million in savings across a variety of departments.
- A 600-bed hospital in the Southwest had an RN turnover rate of 24%, leading to almost $4 million in annual agency costs. H*Works worked with the hospital to transform nurse managers into chief retention officers by implementing new-hire support programs, nurse-manager performance standards, and dashboards. Turnover decreased to 8% and agency costs decreased by $3.5 million.