University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) is strengthening patient care and hospital operations by using real-time data dashboards to improve patient flow and shorten inpatient length of stay.
As the only Level 1 trauma center within a 270-mile radius — as well as the region’s only Level 1 stroke center and Joint Commission-certified comprehensive stroke center — UMC plays a critical role in delivering timely, high-quality care. With patient volumes and acuity increasing in recent years, hospital leaders recognized the need for a more proactive approach to managing patient flow.
Identifying the Opportunity for Improvement
UMC began a focused length-of-stay initiative in March 2023, building on a baseline review conducted between October 2022 and February 2023. At the time, the hospital averaged 1,357 admissions per month, with an average inpatient length of stay of 5.99 days. Extended stays were contributing to bottlenecks, particularly in the emergency department, where patients were waiting longer for inpatient beds.
“Coming out of COVID, we saw a sustained rise in patient acuity that never really normalized,” said Jesus Reverol, administrative director of performance improvement at UMC. “Patients were sicker, required more complex care and, as a result, were staying longer in the hospital. That longer length of stay created a ripple effect.
“Beds were not turning over quickly enough, and patients who needed to be admitted were spending extended hours in the ED,” he continued. “What had once been a manageable range of boarding hours escalated significantly, and it began to impact not just operations but the overall patient experience.”
Hospital leaders recognized that addressing these challenges required more than incremental adjustments—it required a shift in how operational data was used.
Moving Toward Real-Time Decision Making
UMC transitioned from retrospective performance reviews to a real-time, data-driven approach using digital dashboards and internal analytics. This allowed care teams and leadership to monitor admissions, discharges, bed availability, and patient flow as events unfolded.
“Historically, we were looking at key metrics such as length of stay, retrospectively, often at the end of the month,” Reverol explained. “By the time we identified a variance, it was already too late to influence performance.”
By introducing daily reviews and shared visibility across departments, UMC created stronger coordination among clinical teams, operational leaders, and frontline staff. The dashboards became embedded into daily workflows, allowing teams to identify barriers early and act quickly.
“This isn’t a passive reporting exercise,” Reverol explained. “It became an active management system.”
Leadership teams began reviewing discharge data daily, while executive leaders—including the chief operations officer, chief nursing officer and chief medical officer—used weekly digital dashboards to guide both operational improvements and long-term planning.
These coordinated efforts helped UMC move toward a seven-day-a-week operational model, reducing delays that traditionally occurred over weekends and improving continuity of care.
Measurable Improvements in Patient Flow
The impact of these changes has been significant. UMC reduced inpatient length of stay from 5.99 days to 5.29 days.
“This improvement was not driven by a single initiative, but by the cumulative effect of real-time visibility and coordinated action,” Reverol explained.
Another critical metric was reducing the amount of time admitted patients spent in the emergency department. This was reduced by more than half, from 17,500 hours to 8,100, according to Reverol. Additionally, observation length of stay improved by 20 percent, decreasing from 42 hours to 34 hours.
The ED Transitional Clinic contributed to improved efficiency by diverting more than 800 patients from unnecessary observation stays.
“A key driver here was the introduction of the ED Transitional Clinic, launched in late 2024, which diverted more than 800 patients from unnecessary observation stays,” he explained.
These efforts reflect UMC’s ongoing commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and delivering high-quality care for the communities it serves.
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