Freeing up 38 Bed Hours Daily with Efficient Cleaning

UNC Health often operates at more than 90% bed occupancy, so limiting the time it takes to clean and prepare a bed for incoming patients is critical to delivering high-quality care as soon as possible. By automating bed cleaning assignments in Epic, UNC reduced turnaround time by 19 minutes per room—freeing up 38 total bed hours each day.

Using analytics in Epic, UNC found that turnaround times were higher during the second shift, the fast-paced and unpredictable time between 3 PM and midnight, so they targeted that shift for improvements. An algorithm in Epic identifies and automatically assigns available housekeepers, freeing up staff who used to assign rooms to housekeepers manually.

UNC also made real-time turnaround data available to staff. Housekeepers on the move can view their turnaround stats on their phones, tablets, or computers, and UNC’s Patient Logistics Center shows the data on wall-mounted dashboards. The increased visual awareness lets staff make adjustments on the fly to improve the efficiency of the environmental services department.

“It really made a difference to have the room turnaround times highly visible to everyone,” said Rachel Foppiano, executive director of IT and analytics at UNC. “Quicker room turnaround means fewer delays in discharge, shorter wait times, and lower lengths of stay overall.”

Epic community members can read more in UNC Health’s Success at Seven newsletter.