Centra streamlines decision-making with Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard
Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard visualizes the critical data Centra Health needs to address bottlenecks and flow throughput issues.
United States | Healthcare
“Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard has really streamlined frontline leaders’ ability to make decisions in real time...They're making their moves when they're seeing the patients in the ED holding and they know where they're coming to.”
Video: Streamlining Operational Decision-Making with Oracle Health Command Center (2:55)
Centra Health, a rural healthcare system in Central Virginia, faced significant operational challenges due to outdated, manual processes for tracking hospital capacity and patient flow. Relying on an Excel spreadsheet from 2004, information had to be entered manually twice daily and circulated by administrative staff. This approach resulted in delays and frequent errors and required multiple platforms to assemble the needed data. By the time executive leadership received updates, the information was already outdated, compromising decision-making and operational efficiencies. They realized these manual, error-prone processes could no longer support their goals for patient care or operational performance. Centra Health needed an efficient, visual, and near real-time solution to monitor capacity, allocate staffing, and optimize patient throughput. Implementing Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard addressed this need, enabling timely decisions, limiting length of stay, and supporting enhanced patient care, which are critical capabilities for both clinical quality and resource management.
Why Centra Health chose Oracle
The key factor that drove Centra Health’s decision to purchase Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard was the solution’s ability to provide near real-time, visually accessible data on capacity, patient flow, and staffing needs, which neither its previous manual systems nor competitor solutions could offer. Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard’s approach enables executive and frontline teams to monitor bottlenecks instantly and efficiently, with data visualizations that simplify complex information to facilitate quick understanding and action. Unlike alternatives, Oracle’s solution enables direct, on-demand access to live operational data, helping Centra Health rapidly respond to emergency department surges and adjust discharge planning. Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard’s integration capability and intuitive interface set it apart, enabling staff to streamline communications, minimize errors, and meet specific organizational targets, such as reducing the average patient length of stay to 5 days, a goal they surpassed.
Results
With Oracle Health Command Center Dashboard and related Oracle Health solutions (Oracle Health Patient Flow and Oracle Health Workforce Management), Centra Health has automated and standardized data aggregation, visualization, and reporting across its four hospitals. This shift has enabled executive leaders and frontline staff to access actionable, near real-time information at daily huddles and on the unit, supporting rapid and confident decision-making throughout the day. As a direct result, Centra Health has improved critical key performance indicators, most notably reducing the average length of stay (LOS)—a vital operational and financial metric—from 5.28 days[1], surpassing their goal. Prior to implementation[2], average LOS was stagnant at 5.27 and 5.28 days in 2021 and 2022, respectively. This reduction has led to greater bed availability, quicker admission of new patients from the emergency department, optimized staffing, and lower contingency labor and bonus costs. The finance team has recognized the impact of these improvements on operational margins and resource utilization. Staff have reported greater satisfaction thanks to the intuitive and unified dashboard, which minimizes errors, reduces manual work, and enhances collaboration—greatly improving productivity and communication. The executive team noted how “flow is everybody’s responsibility now,” demonstrating increased alignment and engagement across the organization. The scalability of Oracle’s cloud-based solution enables reliable, up-to-date insights for hundreds of staff, daily meetings, and systemwide reporting, making it fundamental to their capacity management strategy. The headline claim—substantial improvement in length of stay—is fully validated by documented results and measurable financial and operational benefits.
[1] Centra adopted a RTHS strategy to assist in end-to-end operational decision making. In 2018 they implemented Patient Flow, Clinical Operations Dashboard, and Workforce Management. Then in 2021, they added Command Center Dashboard. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Centra stood up processes around the data they were gathering from Oracle Health solutions. Having that data easily accessible helped them maintain LOS under 5 days.
[2] Data from 2021 show the length of stay average was 5.27 days, in 2022 it was 5.28 days. Given that history, LGH set their 2023 objective for 5.0 days, but given process improvements and using the RTHS solutions to their full potential, in 2023, they averaged 4.88 days LOS, exceeding the goal.
About the customer
Centra Health is a nonprofit, four-hospital healthcare system serving more than 500,000 people across rural Central Virginia.
Learn more at centrahealth.com
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