Health system leaders face an operational paradox. Operating rooms, inpatient beds and infusion chairs appear to be available. Yet, the reality is often very different. These assets experience dramatic peaks and valleys in usage. As a result, patients receive appointments, but when they show up for care at peak times, they have to wait.

Other asset-intensive industries like airlines or package delivery services face similar challenges. However, through sophisticated modeling and simulations, organizations in these industries can predict and match supply to demand with considerable accuracy. Every day, millions of packages are delivered on time and scores of travelers safely reach their destinations. The healthcare sector needs the same types of capacity-optimization tools.

These were the overarching themes that emerged during a hospital operations summit as part of Becker's Hospital Review's 12th Annual Meeting in Chicago. Dozens of hospital executives participated in the summit. This white paper is based on their conversations and includes specific learnings from: