Your Center's Capacity - It's More Than Just Chair Counts

How many infusion chairs are in your center? You may be surprised to learn that the total number of patients you can serve is far fewer than you might estimate using a conventional approach. Constraints like staffing, varying appointment durations, tendency for last minute add-ons and walk-ins, and even patterns of delay from the pharmacy can affect how many patients your center is capable of serving on any given day. Here’s a helpful approach to accurately determine your center’s capacity:

• Calculate the total number of available chair hours in your infusion center.
• Apply a reasonable ramp-up to accommodate staggered nursing shift and treatment start times.
• Apply a reasonable ramp-down to accommodate some appointments going long and nurse shift end times.
• Calculate your theoretical maximum capacity: this is the “perfect” maximum capacity of your infusion center.
• Since days never go perfectly, you should create a buffer by removing one or more chairs. This will accommodate those unforeseen add-ons or delays without breaking your whole day.

To learn more about this process in-depth, watch this on-demand webinar presented by Sofia DeMarco, Director, Product Management, Oncology Products at LeanTaaS.