CASE STUDY
Bed Management at Østfold Hospital Trust
Østfold Hospital Trust, located south‑east of Oslo, Norway, operates with approximately 5,000 employees, serving patients across its facility of 630 beds and 21 operating theatres.
The Trust earned HIMSS EMRAM Level 6 certification in 2017, becoming the first in the Nordics to reach this milestone.
Background
Although the hospital opened a modern facility in 2015, it continued facing a critical operational gap: the number of available beds did not align with the needs of incoming patients. Despite advanced infrastructure, legacy manual workflows as forms, whiteboards, sticky notes, and phone calls, limited real-time visibility across wards. This created siloed communication, out-of-date occupancy data, and bottlenecks, especially around patient transfers, emergency admissions, and discharges.
Challenges
Østfold Hospital Trust faced ongoing difficulties in aligning bed availability with patient demand, despite operating in a modern facility. Real-time visibility into bed status was limited, with staff relying on handwritten notes, whiteboards and phone calls to coordinate admissions, discharges and transfers. This led to delays, inconsistent communication and inefficient use of resources.
Discharge planning and patient flow were hindered by the lack of a shared operational overview. Support services such as cleaning and portering were not fully synchronised with clinical needs, adding further delays. During high-pressure periods, such as the pandemic, the hospital’s existing systems lacked the flexibility to adapt quickly — highlighting the need for a digital, real-time bed management solution.
Solution
Østfold Hospital Trust implemented the DNV Imatis Bed and Capacity Management System (eBCMS), including:
- Digital whiteboards on large screens throughout wards.
- Mobile and desktop applications to access and update bed statuses.
- Role‑based communication tools for coordination across staff groups.
Digital whiteboards are compatible with mobile apps and messaging systems. Whiteboards at Østfold Hospital are fully integrated with more than 50 systems, including clinical and administrative systems including EHR, lab, portering, cleaning, alerts, telemetry, wireless duress alerts and positioning systems. The DNV Imatis platform also allows the hospital to configure dashboards internally, facilitating rapid change and tailored views (e.g., crisis boards during COVID‑19).
Key components
- Real‑time digital whiteboards combining logistics with patient and resource data.
- Mobile and desktop apps for updating admissions, discharges and transfers quickly.
- Integration with EHR, lab results, portering, cleaning, alerts, telemetry systems.
- Patient acuity scoring, captured per shift to reflect care intensity and staff planning.
- Internal configurability, allowing hospital ICT staff to modify dashboard views and rules independently.
Functionality and integrations
- Staff could register check‑ups (e.g. doctors using QR wristbands) directly into the whiteboards, saving significant time.
- Ward managers gained visibility into capacity across all wards, enabling coordinated transfers and faster admissions from emergency departments
- Cleaning and portering staff accessed real‑time insights on bed turnover and discharge needs; tasks were allocated via mobile.
- Patient transfers between hospitals became quicker: the emergency department could inform ambulance services in advance where the patient should go.
- Internal ICT resources could swiftly deploy new board configurations, for example daily pandemic dashboards, within hours, without external support.
Explore more videos from the Østfold Hospital Trust >
Results and outcomes
Østfold Hospital achieved productivity gains narrowing the gap between bed availability and patient occupancy. Comparably has Western Norway Regional Health Authority reported 15-20% increase in productivity.
Operational improvements included
Bed turnaround time reduced by over 50%
From 42 to 20 minutes – enabling around 36,500 faster turnarounds per year at high-volume hospitals.
Improved 24 hour occupancy forecasting,
Allowing resource planning with greater accuracy.
Cleaner scheduling aligned with actual demand
Shift rotations adjusted based on morning vs evening pressure points.
100 fewer cleaning tasks per day
as a result of improved overview and task automation
Better resource allocation
Based on shift by shift acuity scoring.
Visualisation of bottlenecks
Enabling staff to take proactive corrective actions.
Shared transparency across departments
Improving patient safety and collaboration.
Faster transfer and admission workflows
With defined hand offs tracked digitally for error reduction.
Operational impact
- Digital coordination reduced bed turnaround time from 42 to 20 minutes.
- At ~100 daily admissions, this results in 36,500 annual turnarounds.
- If a cleaning turnaround is valued at €43,5/hour, and 50% of that time is relevant, the efficiency gain corresponds to: ~€130,000 in annual operational savings, not counting gains from increased throughput.
Reference site visits to Østfold Hospital Trust
Østfold Hospital Trust is our official reference site, and we regularly organise in-person visits throughout the year for interested hospitals, health authorities, IT departments and clinical teams.
These visits offer a first-hand opportunity to:
- Observe digital workflows and bed coordination in practice
- See how real-time alerting and mobile messaging support clinical staff
- Discuss with frontline personnel how the system improves logistics, communication and planning
- Learn directly from the hospital’s experience in achieving HIMSS EMRAM level 6
Interested in visiting?
We welcome you – or your team – to join us in Norway.
Send us an inquiry to get more information about upcoming visit dates and availability.
Want to learn how DNV Imatis can improve efficiency in your healthcare operations?
DNV Imatis helps healthcare organisations improve efficiency through real-time information sharing, streamlined workflows and patient journeys, and smarter resource management. Our solutions support staff, enhance patient safety, and improve the overall care experience — while reducing stress and increasing productivity.
Are you curious to find out more, we’re here to help.
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