M2C2 Capacity Center: Increasing Access & Building a Better Patient Experience
November 9th, 2022
I am not the most tech-savvy person around, especially in this era of constantly evolving and improving technological innovations. But one doesn’t have to be a tech expert to appreciate how technology can help us collaborate to become more efficient while making a difference in the patient experience. That’s why I was so excited to hear that the M2C2 Capacity Operations & Real-Time Engagement Center will open at the end of this month in University Hospital South.
The center gives us a very precise glimpse at our capacity, including the moment when we admit and discharge each patient. It also tracks our emergency rooms, waits for patients wanting to transfer from other hospitals for our specialty programs and psychiatric unit capacity. Tools and staff in the center identify barriers to care progression and discharge and work with care teams to remove them.
The center’s enormous benefits directly impact our mission to advance health to serve Michigan and the world, and our core values of Caring, Innovation, Inclusion, Integrity and Teamwork. Each benefit also links closely to each BASE strategic initiative of Belonging, Access, Safety and quality, and Experience.
I could write pages about the many benefits, but below is a brief snapshot.
- Improve inpatient capacity – the capacity team and huddle leads will see real-time bed capacity and anticipated future capacity through MiChart to make better decisions on the spot.
- Reduce Length of Stay (LOS) – everyone will be able to see when there are barriers or delays to care or discharges. Clinical expeditors in the center will partner with care teams and local leadership to act on alerts and avoid longer LOS or consider alternate solutions such as Hospital Care at Home.
- Improve safety and quality – Our rapid response teams and sepsis teams will be able to use new MiChart tools that will also be monitored in the center to predict clinical decline in patients, prioritize patients for rounding, or identify sepsis bundle completion, and other preventative opportunities.
To really get a sense of how much the center will streamline our operations and build an unparalleled patient experience, you can visit virtually; click here for more information. You may also want to watch this Short Takes – M2C2 – YouTube video to meet team members who are collaborating to improve the patient experience.
The center, which includes workspaces for specialized teams, touchdown spaces and conference rooms, will be officially open November 29. Watch the website for more details and future opportunities to tour the space.
Many units and teams are or will soon be involved in this important work. How will you contribute to supporting our new M2C2? Share your story in the discussion box below.
Please focus future money to improve the emergency room. It gives many folks a first impress of the Michigan Medicine and they will not be back. It’s so bad, those with good insurance coverage will call an ambulance for a minor issue, just so they get better care. Crowding and separating patients from at least one advocate, increases the stress and pain for both. Local residents and taxpayers deserve better.
We know that we often have a capacity issue at the university hospital. This is why the work at the new capacity center is so critical and why I am so excited to see it open this month. I believe we will see an impact on the emergency room based on the work which will occur through the center. In addition, we have engaged external consultant, FTI, who is also working with us on the call center, to help improve patient flows and reduce wait times. I ask for your patience as we work through these issues.
Limited outpatient care capacity and long-term care capacity may hamper this center’s ability to mitigate the chronic hospital/ER crowding.
It is true that there are capacity issues within our outpatient facilities as well as in our hospital settings but we have work being done within our call centers to improve wait times and we are collaborating with our partners to offer our patients other solutions for care in situations where we cannot respond in a timely fashion. These efforts, in combination with the new center, should see some reduction in crowding in our near future. Many people are working toward solutions. I appreciate your patience.
Thank you for your elegant endorsement and awareness building for the M2C2, I really appreciate it!
Maureen
Thank you for your enthusiasm for the new center. I hope you get the opportunity to tour it in person, or to visit the site.