Now the centre is working to turn the prototype software package into a product that can be used throughout Queensland.
“The project shows having a look at previous data is a good indicator of future demand for services,” Hansen said. “Service industries can probably can take a lesson here, in that there is a pattern over the year, and having a forecasting tool which you can depend on really aids in that in the delivery of services.
“It's about getting better forecasting of the number of beds which are actually required for patients coming from the emergency department into the main hospital,” Hansen said.
“The important thing over the next twelve months is building confidence in the tools, so that bed managers have that confidence to say ‘the tool is telling me that I'm going to need this many beds, if I set aside that many beds, I release all the other beds which I normally would hold back for elective surgery,’” he says.
“Accurate forecasting will assist many areas of health management from basic bed management and staff resourcing to scheduling elective surgery -- not to mention reducing stress for staff and improving patient outcomes,” says Dr David Green, director of emergency medicine at Gold Coast Hospital.
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