GE HealthCare CareIntellect for Operations is a new, AI-enabled SaaS application for health systems. GE HealthCare has announced a solution to help hospitals proactively manage capacity. The app can forecast capacity constraints up to 72 hours in advance. It provides views of operational bottlenecks at the unit, department, and enterprise level.
The solution utilizes hundreds of patient and operational data points . These include bed availability, patient delay, staffing, wait times and ancillary services. CareIntellect for Operations detects emerging constraints throughout hospital operations. It also suggests actions that can help leaders to increase capacity and throughput.
The Queen’s Health Systems and Duke Health will become the first health systems to implement the application. Health systems continue to face higher demand, staffing shortages, and rising costs. In 2025, inpatient volumes increased 5.3%, according to the cited industry data.1, 2 As a result, hospitals must care for more patients while operating near capacity. Therefore, operational visibility and predictive insights have become increasingly important.
But leaders can devote many hours of every day to gathering operational information. They often take data from multiple systems and reconcile it. These processes provide a limited amount of predictive visibility into future bottlenecks. Teams in some cases still rely on manual processes to track operational updates.
They must also raise issues as the pressure of operations increases. But, leaders still need to decide what to do after assessing the present situation. These challenges can add to the stress experienced by care teams. They may also limit access for patients and affect the delivery of care.
“Managing demand and capacity across our system in a coordinated, predictable way is essential to delivering exceptional care,” said Katie Flanagan, Associate Vice President Patient Flow and Care Coordination at Duke Health. “CareIntellect for Operations builds on three years of partnership with GE HealthCare, giving our teams a three-day view of what’s coming so they can move faster from analysis to action, for the benefit of our patients.”
AI Models Help Hospitals Anticipate Capacity Constraints
GE HealthCare CareIntellect for Operations aims to change how health systems manage operational pressure. Instead of reacting to problems, teams can anticipate emerging resource constraints. The application uses two proprietary GE HealthCare AI models. The first model is called the Pressure Forecast model.
It analyzes historical hospital operations data with real-time information. The model uses data from the EMR and other resource management systems. It then predicts potential resource constraints up to 72 hours ahead. These forecasts cover hospitals, departments, and individual units. The model monitors several operational factors across different care areas. These include census, staffing, boarding, and emergency department wait times.
It also considers therapies, procedural recoveries and inpatient transfers. This provides operational leadership with greater visibility into emerging capacity issues. The second is the Estimated Day of Discharge model. It looks at patient data over time to estimate a possible discharge date. The model updates its estimates hourly as new information becomes available. Then it surfaces recommended actions for operations teams. The system also dynamically prioritizes work flows in operations. This allows teams to respond to system stress and emerging capacity challenges. This, in turn, allows health systems to strive for better use of resources. They can also help minimize possible effects on patient access and quality of care.
Queen’s and Duke Begin Clinical Evaluations
The Queen’s Health Systems and Duke Health will serve as the first clinical evaluation sites. Their teams will provide frontline clinical and operational feedback. GE HealthCare will use this feedback to guide future enhancements. The company will also use it to develop additional capabilities. The solution draws on more than two decades of healthcare operations expertise. This expertise includes insights from GE HealthCare’s Command Center software.
Nearly 500 hospitals and medical facilities globally use the Command Center software. Customers have reported several measurable operational outcomes. These outcomes include up to $20 million in first-year cost savings.3 Customers have also reported more than a one-day reduction in length of stay.4 In addition, customers have reported capacity to serve 19,000 additional patients annually.5, 6
“At Queen’s, improving access for the communities we serve is one of our top priorities, and optimizing our operations is critical to helping us achieve that,” said Alex Wroe, Chief Operating Officer at The Queen’s Medical Center. “We’ve seen firsthand how this type of advanced operational software can help us free up more capacity and better use our resources. We look forward to taking this work to the next level, helping us move beyond reacting to capacity challenges and toward proactively ensuring that our beds, teams, and resources are available for the patients who need them most.”
Cloud Infrastructure Supports Healthcare Operations
GE HealthCare CareIntellect for Operations belongs to the CareIntellect family of clinical and operational applications. These applications share a common cloud-first infrastructure. The infrastructure allows customers to onboard new CareIntellect applications securely. It also reduces the need for costly, time-consuming product-by-product integrations.
CareIntellect for Operations runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Customers can purchase the application directly from GE HealthCare. The solution is also available through the AWS Marketplace. This provides another channel for health systems seeking healthcare technology solutions.
“Health systems need to know where pressure is building and what to do next. CareIntellect for Operations brings together patient and operational signals to give teams a 72-hour view of emerging constraints and help them act earlier,” said Dr. Taha Kass-Hout, Global Chief Science and Technology Officer at GE HealthCare. “AI in hospital operations has to give teams predictions they can understand, workflow-connected recommendations they can use, and a system they can trust at the point of decision – and that is the bar we designed this solution to meet.”
The launch supports GE HealthCare’s wider innovation strategy. The company is hoping to move forward with AI-powered SaaS solutions for health systems. These solutions are aimed at improving access and managing the hospital’s capacity. They also want to support care teams in keeping care delivery efficient. Since 2023, GE HealthCare has invested over $5.1 billion in innovation. The investment will help improve care, clinician needs and make healthcare operations more efficient.
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News Source: Businesswire.com
