HISTORY OF THE PROFESSION
The hospital capacity management field rose out of a need to streamline and optimize available resources to deliver the most timely and effective care to patients.
Large health systems began using command centers to allocate resources to critical patients and working with local emergency services and other health systems to ensure the most critical patients got the best care in the most efficient and timely way. As the prevalence of EHR grew, hospital capacity management had another powerful tool: the ability to analyze patient trends at their facility.
These trends can help them predict patient admissions, discharge times and other resource needs, allowing hospitals to plan more effectively and find opportunities for improvement along the patient journey. As health care systems grow and the demand for staff and resources increase, having a robust hospital capacity management program is crucial to the smooth functioning of a hospital. Resources can include everything from bed availability, number of staff available and medical equipment.
Learn more about health care capacity management, who capacity management professionals are, what they do every day, the path to becoming a capacity management leader, and why you should choose this career.
PROFESSIONAL OVERVIEW