Exchange

Question 1

What is the core OR problem Exchange is solving for?

Answer 1

Lack of Access to the OR

Question 2

How do we load data to the Exchange module

Answer 2

Via real time HL7 feed

Question 3

Can Exchange be customized to only allow certain services to book into specific rooms?

Answer 3

Yes

Question 4

If time is not available to request, is there a way for users to add themselves to a wait list?

Answer 4

Yes, they can add to a wait list

Question 5

Describe how release reminders are sent and the related benefits for end users

Answer 5

Release reminders are sent to the clinic schedulers and optionally to the surgeon via email. We monitor the booking patters of each surgeon, service line and group and will notify them when they typically have a case booked, but currently don’t. This increases release lead time to 20-30 days across all 2200 ORs

Question 6

What are the benefits of proactively releasing block time?

Answer 6

1) Pack more cases in your ORs during business hours
2) reduction of add-ons
3) stronger competitive advantage with community surgeons
4) Higher clinic and surgeon satisfaction - can get time when they need it

Question 7

Why would an office scheduler want to use this?

Answer 7

It reduces their back and forth phone calls, faxes, and emails to the OR schedulers. They will know with certainty the the open-time they are seeing is truly available

Question 8

What benefit is this tool to the surgeon?

Answer 8

1) Surgeons can get time when they need it

2) they can be alerted when they don’t have a case and might need to schedule more clinic time

Question 9

How often does Exchange update?

Answer 9

It updates in real-time

Question 10

Our surgeons never release time, they are worried if they release it the hospital will take it away – how have you encouraged surgeons to release time at other hospitals?

Answer 10

This is very common - tsurgeons use block time as a source of currency so releasing that time isn’t always front of mind, plus it can be a manual process to release time. However, once surgeons start trusting exchange’s release reminders and marketplace they will realize that it’s good to release time because more is readily available. The more surgeons that release their time, the more will be available in Open Time

Question 11

Can you track build in or track moveable equipment?

Answer 11

We are currently only tracking fixed assets such as robots

Question 12

What happens if 2 surgeons ask for the same open time or waitlist the same time?

Answer 12

because everything is time and date stamped, iQueue will automatically move forward with the first surgeon who requested that time. That takes the politics out of the equation and that burden off of your schedulers

Question 13

We move cases around too much on our schedule. Will that impact the availability on Exchange?

Answer 13

It shouldn’t because we have a real-time feed into your EHR

Question 14

Does Exchange perform any conflict checking?

Answer 14

We currently do not do any conflict checking. That is best done by your EHR and your OR schedulers expertise

Question 15

How does Exchange know which time is available to request?

Answer 15

We have a real time feed into your EHR, showing real-time availability. That paired with the hundreds of constraints ensure that only the right room is available for request

Question 16

Does the Exchange module write or push data to the EHR scheduling grid?

Answer 16

iQueue does not write back into your EHR. The OR schedulers will have the ultimate say in the most appropriate room this makes finalizing the schedule easier because the case has passed the OR scheduler’s validation checks

Question 17

Are users alerted when time is requested, released, approved, and/or denied?

Answer 17

Yes users are alerted to all of those situations. Typically it is the clinic scheduler being notified, but your surgeons have the option to be notified as well

Question 18

Can two (2) distinct surgeons request the same OR time through Exchange?

Answer 18

requests will be in the order they are requested. That eliminates the politics that can be involved and ensures first come first serve

Question 19

How does iQueue handle robotic cases? What if my robot is not always in the same room?

Answer 19

iQueue reads the procedure description and if it is flagged as a robot case. We currently do not track non-fixed assets. But your scheduler can request a moveable robot in the notes section

Question 20

How do we know which request sent in through iQueue is connected to which case form?

Answer 20

the case form will always be tied to its request. I can easily show this in the task view

Question 21

What if a client or prospect is experiencing significant staffing shortages - how can we prevent the offices from seeing open time when it auto-releases (because we want to close it)?

Answer 21

*** Learn capacity management tool

Question 22

What is the block release process like? Can clients release partial blocks? What if there is not enough time to use for another case?

Answer 22

Block release is simple. iQueue has built in half block or full block releases or custom time frame releases. The custom releases always release from beginning or end of block to avoid splitting up block with built in sanity checks to know if you have a case in your block

Question 23

What is/are the most common reason(s) for denials in Exchange?

Answer 23

untimely case form, no pre-auth

Question 24

[Clinic Schedulers] – How quickly will we get an approval when we submit a request into iQueue?

Answer 24

workflow dependent on OR Scheduler

Question 25

What if COVID-19 comes back and we have to cancel elective surgery? Does Exchange still work?

Answer 25

Yes of course. Exchange will is an electronic waitlist for all surgeries put on hold and it is extremely well suited to first come first serve once COVID recedes

Question 26

Does Exchange account for anesthesia limitations? How can we make sure we are not offering time to offices that is not truly available

Answer 26

Exchange has hundreds of constraints built in that will only show the right room. Things such as which service line can perform in which room on which day accounts for staffing and anesthesia

Question 27

Can weekends be requested in the Exchange module?

Answer 27

Yes weekends can be requested

Question 28

What if clinic schedulers try to hoard time for their surgeons without submitting any cases? Are there measures in place to resolve this scenario?

Answer 28

** we have measures in place to prevent this

Question 29

Most of our cases are add ons – how can Exchange help decrease these add ons?

Answer 29

By getting time released 25 days sooner, you’re surgeons will be able to get time on the schedule sooner

Question 30

Does Exchange manage or optimize case scheduling for urgent/emergent case types?

Question 31

OR is very complicated to staff and schedule, what if a client does not want everyone to be able to see all open time. How can we avoid a lot of denials?

Question 32

Can end users request in-block time in Exchange?

Question 33

Describe the different scheduling model configurations available in Exchange, i.e. case only model.

Question 34

How can Exhcange translate into meaningful ROI for a customer?

Question 35

How can new surgeons be added to Exchange?

Question 36

We have specific Covid scheduling guidelines and/or other mandatory information that needs to be satisfied prior to scheduling a case at our hospital - How can Exchange support this?

Question 37

How does Exchange help with case length estimation and/or case length accuracy?

Question 38

Does Exchange work for Endo/GI rooms? What about CV rooms? What about Cath lab?

Question 39

Does Exchange work for group and service line blocks?

Question 40

How can Exchange be a benefit for Centralized Scheduling teams? (a team of OR schedulers who schedule across a set of hospitals/locations in a geographic region)