As hospitals across the country face increasing pressure to manage patient volumes with limited resources, innovation in care delivery is more critical than ever. Qventus is at the forefront of addressing these challenges, transforming inpatient care with AI-driven solutions. To explore this further, I spoke with Dr. Jason Cohen, Chief Medical Officer of Inpatient Solutions at Qventus, about the impact of the recently launched Qventus Inpatient Capacity Solution 3.0 – which in 2024 saved patients over 36,000 excess hospital days, equating to 100 years saved.
Automating Key Discharge Planning Components
Effective discharge planning is central to unlocking hospital efficiency, yet it often falls short due to fragmented processes. “Qventus’ inpatient capacity solution automates the four key components of discharge planning,” explains Dr. Cohen. These include:
- Personalized discharge plans: Leveraging machine learning, the solution predicts discharge timing and post-discharge needs as early as the first morning after admission.
- Resource sequencing: The system prioritizes the use of ancillary resources, such as physical therapy consults and imaging, to ensure timely discharges.
- Care gap orchestration: AI-driven logic engines identify missing orders or gaps in care and proactively address them, keeping patients on track.
- Real-time analytics: Dashboards provide actionable insights at the unit, facility, and system levels, helping leaders identify and address inefficiencies.
The result? Patients leave the hospital sooner, teams operate more effectively, and health systems optimize capacity.
A System of Action
Traditional electronic health records (EHRs) serve as systems of record, capturing critical patient data. However, Dr. Cohen highlights a key limitation: “EHRs aren’t designed to prompt action or move patients through the system effectively.”
Qventus bridges this gap by acting as a “system of action,” automating manual processes and prompting care teams to take timely steps. Whether it’s sequencing diagnostic tests or ensuring a missing order is signed, the platform keeps operations running smoothly, enabling staff to work at the top of their licenses.
Post-Discharge Follow-Up: A Clinician’s Perspective
Qventus also recently launched AI Operational Assistants that use generative AI to analyze data and take action. One of the most exciting applications of this in the Inpatient Capacity solution is post-discharge follow-ups. “We know follow-up calls reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes, but most hospitals don’t have the capacity to do them,” says Dr. Cohen.
With Qventus, patients can receive tailored follow-ups from AI-powered assistants who understand their medical history, medication regimen, and care instructions by scraping EHR data and medical records. These interactions provide education, answer questions, and ensure patients adhere to their discharge plans—all of which contribute to better recovery outcomes.
Delivering ROI and Improving Patient Outcomes
Beyond improving workflow efficiency, Qventus delivers significant return on investment (ROI) for its inpatient clients. “We’ve seen length of stay reductions of 15–30%,” shares Dr. Cohen. For one health system, this translated to a 20% increase in patient volume year-over-year without expanding physical infrastructure.
OhioHealth, a key Qventus partner, is seeing meaningful results. Through the adoption of the inpatient capacity solution, they reduced excess days by 20%, achieved a greater than 7x ROI within the first year, and saw a 15% reduction in overnight ED boarding. “What’s exciting as a clinician,” Dr. Cohen adds, “is that these improvements also translate to better outcomes, such as reduced mortality for patients who move from the ED to a hospital bed sooner.”
Addressing the Healthcare Staffing Crisis
With nursing shortages and limited staffing, expanding hospital capacity through new facility construction isn’t always feasible. “You can’t grow your way out of this problem,” says Dr. Cohen. “The only way forward is to get better at delivering care and moving patients through the hospital at the pace they deserve.”
By automating workflows, aligning care teams, and ensuring timely discharges, Qventus not only alleviates strain on overburdened staff but also frees up capacity for incoming patients. This approach ultimately enables healthcare systems to achieve their mission of delivering high quality care for patients and communities.
