Unlocking capacity by coordinating cleaning and discharge for faster bed turnover
The challenge
Hospitals often face delays in preparing beds for new patients after discharge. This is especially critical during peak demand, when Emergency Departments (EDs) are full, and wards must manage both incoming and outgoing patients with limited staff.
Too often, bed turnover relies on phone calls, handwritten notes, or delayed communication between clinical teams and support services. Nurses are pulled into coordinating cleaning and portering, and the lack of shared visibility creates bottlenecks that ripple across the hospital.
The approach
With digital tools that connect clinical and non-clinical teams in real time, hospitals can remove unnecessary steps from the discharge process, reduce delays, and increase capacity without increasing staff.
By combining real-time data sharing, automated task allocation, and clear visibility of patient status, wards can coordinate more effectively with less manual effort and fewer phone calls.
Related case studies
Bed turnaround time
reduced by 50%
by coordinating cleaning and discharge at Østfold hospital >
€4,400 saved per bed
annually at Oslo Emergency Clinic, with coordinated workflows, real-time decision support and role-based task management >
€130,000 in annual operational savings
as a result of digital coordination leading to faster bed turnarounds at Østfold Hospital Trust >
How it works in practice
Discharge triggers a task automatically
When a patient is marked for discharge, the system immediately sends a cleaning request to support staff. There’s no need for the nurse to follow up manually. The task is sent directly to the right team on their mobile device, including room number, priority, and any special notes — for instance, specific infection types can automatically activate the correct cleaning procedures.
Real-time updates – wherever you are
Interactive digital whiteboards and mobile apps keep everyone in sync in real time, whether they’re at a workstation or on the move. Cleaning teams can update task status (e.g. “In progress”, “Complete”) directly from their mobile devices as they go — there’s no need to return to the ward room or make follow-up calls. These updates are instantly visible to clinical teams, porters, and bed managers. As soon as a room is ready, it’s flagged as available — enabling faster patient transfers and reducing downtime between discharges and admissions.
Transparency across the hospital
Emergency departments can view occupancy, discharge plans, and cleaning schedules in real time. Wards can see the number of incoming patients and plan accordingly. This two-way visibility improves patient flow and reduces bottlenecks.
Planning and workload awareness
Staff and managers use the system to anticipate patient flow over the next 24 hours — viewing upcoming discharges, patient acuity levels, and nursing workload across wards. This makes it easier to plan staff allocation and respond to pressure before it builds up.
Results seen in practice
Hospitals using this coordinated discharge-cleaning workflow report:
Faster bed turnover and fewer delays in patient admission
Clearer planning based on real-time visibility of occupancy, workload, and discharges
Reduced interruptions to nursing staff from logistical coordination
Improved collaboration between wards, support services, and emergency departments
Smarter resource allocation based on acuity, not just headcount
Why it matters
Every hour a bed sits empty due to miscommunication is an hour another patient waits. By connecting staff, data, and tasks across departments, hospitals can unlock capacity by reducing friction in the discharge process, improve throughput, and ease pressure on frontline teams — without compromising care.
It’s all about building a smoother, more transparent system where decisions are made with the full picture in view and acted on without delay.
Want to learn how to improve bed turnover?
Are you curious about how smarter coordination between clinical and support teams can help your hospital free up capacity faster? Whether you’re exploring digital solutions or just want to understand the possibilities, we’re here to help.
Let’s talk about how DNV Imatis can support your ambitions.
Simplifying communication across clinical and non-clinical teams
Supporting the future of nursing with technology that empowers, not replaces
