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Novant Health sought to improve coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) outcome monitoring by creating a real-time dashboard that compares observed patient outcomes with predicted risk. The team integrated clinical data, automated risk calculations, validated predictive models, and developed benchmarking tools to support timely quality improvement, performance tracking, and clinical decision-making.

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UNC Health sought to reduce post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay for same-day robotic urology patients. The team analyzed workflow delays, surveyed nurses, and identified bottlenecks in pharmacy, patient education, and transportation. Recommendations included standardized education materials, earlier transport notifications, and pharmacy process improvements, resulting in a 20% reduction in PACU stay.

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UNC Health aimed to improve early-morning blood draw completion rates for inpatient care. The team analyzed phlebotomy workflows and identified opportunities in workload balancing, patient batching, and visual management. Recommended changes included adding a night shift, standardizing collection batches, and implementing performance tracking tools to improve efficiency, consistency, and staff satisfaction.

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Atrium Health wants to make the mammography screening process faster and more efficient by finding weak points and sources of delays. Because of this, their goal is to cut turnaround times for screening results. To help, a senior design team focused on spotting operational problems and streamlining the entire process. As a result, these improvements support Atrium Health’s “Know in 24” promise, ensuring patients get their mammogram results within 24 hours.

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UNC Hospitals wants to shorten the surgery scheduling lead time and better use of its services by improving the Operating Room (OR) Block Schedule. To help with this, a senior design team created a Python tool that predicts lead times and service use based on changes to block assignments. With this tool, the team can make smart suggestions for dividing OR time. In addition, the tool supports ongoing improvements by helping staff adjust schedules using real data. As a result, the hospital can improve efficiency and better respond to patient needs.

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UNC Hillsborough Hospital sought to improve reliability, accountability, and patient experience for joint replacement surgeries while increasing operating room capacity. The team developed performance dashboards, conducted process analyses, and used simulation modeling to identify opportunities for improvement. Their recommendations support adding daily surgery while maintaining quality, reducing delays, and enhancing overall surgical workflow efficiency.

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Manhattan Associates sought to improve the efficiency of profit analysis through data visualization. The student team developed multiple interactive analytical tools using extensive data modeling, enabling faster interpretation of large datasets. These visualizations streamline decision-making, reduce analysis time, and provide users with clearer insights to support business performance and profitability assessments.

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Premier’s procedure for hiring and internal employee movement is currently subjective and lacks objective data. Natalie designed productivity measures to create objectivity and identify key skills to increase internal movement.

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The Urologic Oncology Department at UNC Health Systems conducts advanced biopsies to screen for prostate cancer. However, long wait times and inefficiencies hinder timely access to care. The student team’s project sought to increase the yearly appointment capacity by optimizing the UNC Urology Medical Center schedule, referred to as the Main Campus.

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UNC Rex desired improvement in the supply chain and inventory levels within their facilities. The ISE team developed multiple recommendations to improve efficiency, including cycle-count training, inventory tracking for call requests, and organizational and standardization within the warehouse. These solutions directly impacted the total time lost to inventory, improved their accuracy, and reduced stockouts/excess inventory.

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UNC Urology’s emergency department kidney stone follow-up rates fall below target, increasing recurrence risk and costly 30-day return visits. The student team analyzed patient demographics associated with missed follow-up appointments and recommended a triaged urology referral process plus bilingual discharge instructions. These interventions aim to improve adherence, outcomes, and reduce costs.

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Duke Health sought to improve staffing visibility by replacing an outdated reporting process with a real-time Tableau dashboard. The team gathered user feedback through surveys and focus groups, analyzed prior implementation challenges, and developed an interactive dashboard displaying staffing metrics. Recommendations support ongoing dashboard adoption, user engagement, and continuous improvement.

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Eventus WholeHealth sought to improve understanding and tracking of Medical Assistant (MA) workflows within its Chronic Care Management (CCM) program. Through workflow observations, data analysis, and task-time studies, the team identified documentation gaps and tracking inconsistencies. Recommendations included a standardized CCM tracking tool, improved visibility into CCM activities, and support for accurate time documentation.

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UNC Rex’s main hospital has been experiencing surgical scheduling and performance issues due to delays in receiving the surgical tool trays. It also wants to ensure safety in instrument sterilization. The student team created an optimized scheduling model to prevent surgical tray backlogs and improve staffing accuracy.

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UNC Health sought to improve utilization of robotic operating rooms by analyzing scheduling inefficiencies and block time allocation practices. Using visualization and optimization tools, the team identified mismatches between allocated and actual usage, developed a service-based scheduling model, and recommended standardized allocation methods to increase robotic surgery capacity and efficiency.

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UNC Rex has multiple facilities across NC, with its main hospital in Raleigh. The growing demand for the endoscopy service line has encouraged UNC to examine the current state of its suite. The student team created a simulation model to test different scenarios and determined that additional pre-op bays would increase the number of cases seen each day.

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Duke Health sought to better understand and standardize the oncology clinical trial activation process. Through stakeholder interviews, process mapping, and timeline analysis, the team identified delays and process inefficiencies across departments. The project developed standardized procedures and recommendations to improve coordination, reduce activation timelines, and support more efficient clinical trial startup.

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Duke Health sought to improve its bi-weekly payroll approval process within the Heart Clinical Service Unit by reducing non-value-added activities that affected nurse satisfaction. Through observations, interviews, time studies, and workflow analysis, the team developed process improvements that reduced wasted effort, increased process use, and improved nurse satisfaction.

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The Durham VA Dermatology Unit has been collecting data on biopsies performed since 2017, but does not have a method for analyzing this data or measuring its current performance. The HSESP student team analyzed the current accuracy of the Dermatology Unit’s diagnoses. They proposed methods to improve accuracy and eliminate unnecessary biopsies by identifying key factors that influence accuracy.

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The Durham VA Medical Center sought to improve COVID-19 vaccination operations by analyzing patient flow, staffing requirements, queue lengths, and facility capacity. The team developed and validated simulation models for daily and mass vaccination clinics, identifying process improvements to reduce wait times, optimize staffing, increase throughput, and support future vaccination efforts.

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UNC Rex is building a new cancer center at the hospital, which will open in January 2022. The administrative staff wanted to know whether the center’s five registration bays would be sufficient to serve their current patient volume and any future increases. Through observations, distribution fitting and simulation, the student team demonstrated that, using the team’s schedule, the five registration bays kept waiting times below 10 minutes and the waiting room’s maximum capacity under 20 patients.

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Carillon Assisted Living explored whether a tiered pricing strategy could improve revenue compared to flat-rate pricing. The team analyzed resident acuity data, move-in and move-out patterns, and length-of-stay distributions using Markov chain modeling and simulation. An optimized resident mix was identified that increased projected revenue while maintaining practical care-level distributions.

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Duke Health sought to improve patient flow in ambulatory clinics by reducing average clinic cycle times. The team analyzed patient movement, compared performance across divisions, mapped pulmonary transplant workflows, and developed simulation models. Recommendations redefined cycle-time measurements and reporting practices, leading to significant projected reductions in patient visit duration.

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Duke Performance Services examined the clinical documentation query process between providers, coders, and Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) analysts. Using six months of data, the team analyzed query volume, response times, and diagnosis patterns. Recommendations focused on reducing unnecessary queries, improving communication, and standardizing documentation practices to increase efficiency.

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Duke Health evaluated the potential impact of electronic consultations (e-consults) in rheumatology using simulation modeling. The team analyzed referral workflows, queue lengths, specialist workload, and appointment demand. Results showed that expanding e-consults could reduce referral backlogs, avoid unnecessary appointments, improve access to care, and increase specialist efficiency.

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Healthstat sought to improve the efficiency and visibility of its Health Risk Assessment (HRA) events. Through observations, process mapping, time studies, and customer feedback, the team identified bottlenecks in patient flow, signage, and scheduling. Recommended improvements aimed to reduce flow time, increase patient satisfaction, and improve staff morale.

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Duke Health evaluated RFID-tracked patient-lifting equipment better to understand utilization patterns, accessibility, and staff preferences. By analyzing equipment location data and caregiver surveys, the team identified opportunities to improve equipment placement, guide future purchasing decisions, enhance staff training, and increase the effectiveness of safe patient handling initiatives.

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Duke Health evaluated Workstations on Wheels (WOWs) in a bone marrow transplant clinic to identify ergonomic risks affecting nurses and support staff. Through observations, biomechanical analysis, surveys, and risk assessments, the project identified workstation design deficiencies and developed recommendations to improve ergonomics, reduce injury risk, and enhance usability.

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Duke University Hospital’s Clinical Research Unit faced a growing number of unresolved electronic health record encounters that complicated clinical trial operations and data management. The team analyzed workflow differences between research and standard clinical visits, identified root causes, and recommended new research-specific encounter types and processes to eliminate open encounters.

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Duke University Hospital evaluated resident workload and clinical teaching opportunities within its General Medicine service. Through direct observation of rounding activities and team-room interactions, the team measured how residents spent their time, identified factors affecting informal teaching moments, and developed recommendations to improve education, workload balance, and team efficiency.

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Healthstat sought to improve clinic efficiency by analyzing workflow variation, staffing levels, and provider documentation practices across multiple clinic locations. Using time studies, process mapping, simulation, and appointment data analysis, the team developed standardized processes and scheduling tools to optimize staffing, improve provider efficiency, and support consistent clinic operations.

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UNC Radiation Oncology sought to improve patient safety and care quality by identifying rework and measuring provider cognitive workload. The team analyzed incident reports, communication logs, clinic observations, throughput data, and video recordings to uncover inefficiencies. Recommendations focused on workflow standardization, usability improvements, training, and stronger safety barriers.