Health systems operate across multiple hospitals, departments, and electronic medical record (EMR) platforms. While each facility may have its own technology infrastructure and clinical workflows, the need to measure patient acuity and nursing workload consistently remains the same.
For multi-hospital organizations, establishing a standardized, objective approach to nursing workload measurement can be challenging when facilities operate on different EMR platforms. AcuityPlus is an EMR-agnostic solution that allows health systems to apply the same approach to measuring patient acuity and total nursing workload across their hospitals.
Consistent Acuity Measurement, Regardless of the EMR
Typical patient classification and nursing workload solutions are designed around a specific EMR platform. This can limit their use across health systems with diverse technology environments. AcuityPlus takes a different approach.
AcuityPlus integrates with multiple EMR platforms, allowing health systems to apply the same standardized approach to measuring patient acuity and nursing workload across their facilities. With several purpose-built methodologies available, organizations can apply the appropriate methodology across different care settings and locations while accounting for the unique care needs of each patient population.
By using existing clinical documentation, AcuityPlus automatically classifies patients based on their acuity, complexity, and individual care needs. It does this through a standardized set of indicators that objectively quantify patient care requirements and the associated nursing workload. This provides an objective foundation for measuring nursing workload while reducing reliance on subjective assessments and avoiding the need for additional nursing documentation.
The flexibility extends beyond EMRs. AcuityPlus is also vendor-agnostic across time and attendance and scheduling systems. This supports consistency in how nursing workload is measured, evaluated, and compared throughout an organization.
A Complete View of Total Nursing Workload
Beyond acuity, AcuityPlus measures total nursing workload by accounting for patient-specific care needs, direct and indirect care activities, admissions, discharges and transfers (ADTs), and non-patient-related activities. Together, these factors provide a more complete picture of the work required to deliver patient care.
Standardized measurement across facilities also creates opportunities to evaluate differences in workload, identify resource imbalances, and support more equitable patient assignments. By operationalizing objective acuity data, AcuityPlus helps nurse leaders move beyond relying on acuity scores alone when making patient assignments. Instead, they can consider the actual workload associated with each patient, along with nurse experience and skill mix. More balanced assignments can contribute to improved nurse satisfaction and support positive patient outcomes.
How Standardized Workload Data Supports Financial Stewardship
Consistent workload measurement provides value beyond day-to-day clinical operations. It also gives financial and executive leaders a more objective foundation for evaluating resource utilization and organizational performance.
When workload is measured consistently across facilities, health systems can:
- Evaluate nursing labor utilization in relation to actual patient care demands
- Identify opportunities to better align resources with patient acuity and workload
- Compare workload trends, assignment practices, and operational performance across hospitals
- Use historical workload data to support forecasting and budget planning
- Benchmark performance across facilities within the health system and against national peers
The AcuityPlus National Benchmarking Database provides access to data from more than 50 hospitals and 500 departments, representing approximately 75,000 daily patient classifications and 25 million annual patient classifications. This gives clinical and financial leaders the ability to evaluate their organization’s workload and operational performance against national data, identify differences, and better understand opportunities for improvement.
One Comprehensive View Across the Health System
Different EMR platforms shouldn’t mean different approaches to measuring nursing acuity and workload. By combining cross-platform integration with standardized acuity methodologies and national benchmarking, AcuityPlus gives health systems a consistent way to evaluate nursing workload across their facilities and against national peers. This helps clinical, operational, and financial leaders make more informed decisions about patient assignments, resource utilization, and financial planning.
Request more information to learn how AcuityPlus can help optimize nursing resource utilization and deployment across your health system.
