How can you calculate the utilization rate for a healthcare service?

Understanding utilization rates is crucial for healthcare providers to optimize resource allocation and ensure efficient delivery of care. Let's consider two patients admitted to the same hospital with acute myocardial infarction (heart attack): - Patient A: This patient has a straightforward heart attack, receives timely treatment, and is discharged after a few days. - Patient B: This patient experiences complications and develops heart failure, requiring a longer hospital stay and additional resources like specialised care and medication. The utilization rate is calculated by dividing the actual output (number of patients treated) by the maximum capacity (number of available beds or resources) over a given period.

Utilization rate is a significant tool for healthcare efficiency measures. it reflects the capacity of the services relevant to the demand for the service. Utilization= Actual utilized service / Capacity of the service. for example: IP Utilization = Occupied beds / total available beds. Doctors utilization = Utilized hours / Total doctor's hours.

If we consider my initial example, 2 heart attack patients, one with a quick recovery and another with a prolonged stay due to complications, illustrate the nuances of resource utilisation. This disparity underscores how utilisation rates aren't just about bed occupancy, but also reflect the intensity of care and resources required for each patient. Analysing these differences helps hospitals optimize resource allocation, ensuring efficient care delivery for all. For healthcare managers, utilisation rates are a crucial metric for assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of services. By comparing actual utilisation with desired levels, managers can identify gaps, opportunities, and challenges in service delivery.

The utilization rate reflects the efficiency of the operations " capacity" which may be over or under-utilized. Example: utilization 40 %: underutilized services, which need corrective actions to enhance the sales and marketing, or you may be overstaffed, or over capacity in terms of demand. So we may shrink the operations to fit the actual needs. Utilization 90 % - >100 %: over-utilized, is a risky ratio in healthcare which may lead to the collapse of the system like what happened in the Covid pandemic. In this situation, we have to consider the expansion of the business to meet the demand " if it is consistent, not spike " I think the optimal ratio that we can achieve is 85 %, if more we have to think about expansion. what do you think?

The utilization rate is calculated by dividing the actual output (N patients treated) by the maximum capacity (N of available beds or resources) over a given period. In this case, both Patient A and Patient B contribute to the hospital's utilisation rate. However, Patient B, with their more complex case and longer stay, consumes a greater proportion of resources, impacting the overall utilization rate more significantly. By analyzing utilization rates, hospitals can identify areas where resources are overutilized or underutilized. For instance, a high utilization rate in the cardiology ward might indicate a need for more beds or staff, while a low utilization rate in another department could suggest the potential to reallocate resources.

Take care, when you applied the utilization rate since it is dynamic and needs adjustments for each function. for example: Doctor utilization, you should consider: 1. Speciality, for oncology the first visit needs 30+ min for assessment, second visit 20 Min. 2. the digital capability: fully digitalized HIS cut the visit time by 30 % or more. 3. The level of the service: VIP clinics need more time, care, and more. 4. type of patients or service: need the most profitable not the other regular, so you may shit regular cases from Professor clinic to keep space for critical cases. Keep it simple, clear, dynamic, and profitable. Avoid misleading figures, what do you think ?? your thoughts welcome :-)

Loved the article! Was really helpful with a high level understanding of per room utilization. Spaces which are being repurposed to accommodate new needs of any healthcare facility require a quick peek into this calculation. I have experienced that many times we are not able to differentiate between the demands and needs of the number of a specific type of space. These calculations help in building a proper case for space managers and optimizers.