Surgical volume at Cincinnati Children's grew 7% a year for at least two years after it smoothed its elective schedule, Eugene Litvak reported.
7%
yearly surgical volume growth at one children's hospital
Surgical volume at Cincinnati Children's grew 7% a year for at least two years after it smoothed its elective schedule, Eugene Litvak reported.
The same account says operating-room overtime fell 57%.
Source: Eugene Litvak, Bridging the Gap: Operations Management Science, Patient Safety and Health Care Cost (presentation) (opens in a new tab), Slides 21 and 22, Managing variability in patient flow: success stories; source on slide: Frederic Ryckman, MD, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Verified October 2026.
Related charts
- From the blog
Cincinnati Children's went from 76% to 91% occupancy after smoothing its surgery schedule
Eugene Litvak, Bridging the Gap, National Academies presentation (2012); Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow, 2nd edition (2020) - From research
Hospital drug expenses grew 13.6% in 2025, nearly twice as fast as total expenses
American Hospital Association, Costs of Caring 2026 (March 2026) - From the blog
A boarded med-surg stroke patient cost nearly twice as much a day as one on a ward
Canellas et al., Annals of Emergency Medicine, vol. 84 (2024) - From the blog
Hopkins assigned ED patients a bed 30% faster after opening a command center
Johns Hopkins Medicine, Capacity Command Center news release (October 2016)
Sources for the figures above: Eugene Litvak, Bridging the Gap: Operations Management Science, Patient Safety and Health Care Cost (presentation) (opens in a new tab); Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow, 2nd edition (2020) (opens in a new tab); American Hospital Association, Costs of Caring 2026 (March 2026) (opens in a new tab); Canellas MM et al., Measurement of Cost of Boarding in the Emergency Department Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing, Annals of Emergency Medicine 84(4) (opens in a new tab); The Johns Hopkins Hospital Launches Capacity Command Center to Enhance Hospital Operations (news release) (opens in a new tab).
Related facts
$137M
a year, in one 2012 account
In Eugene Litvak's 2012 account, the occupancy gain at Cincinnati Children's resulted in $137 million a year, plus more than $100 million in avoided capital cost for 75 beds.
Source: Eugene Litvak, Bridging the Gap: Operations Management Science, Patient Safety and Health Care Cost (presentation).
KentApplied91%
inpatient occupancy at one children's hospital after it smoothed its elective surgery schedule
Inpatient occupancy at Cincinnati Children's rose from 76% to 91% after it smoothed its elective surgery schedule, Eugene Litvak reported in 2012.
Source: Eugene Litvak, Bridging the Gap: Operations Management Science, Patient Safety and Health Care Cost (presentation).
KentApplied3,567
of 5,121 US community hospitals belong to a health system of any size
3,567 of the 5,121 US community hospitals belonged to a health system of any size in the 2024 AHA Annual Survey, and 1,797 were rural, AHA's 2026 Fast Facts reports. The two counts overlap, because some rural hospitals also belong to a system.
Source: Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2026.
KentApplied
Sources for the figures above: Eugene Litvak, Bridging the Gap: Operations Management Science, Patient Safety and Health Care Cost (presentation) (opens in a new tab); Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Achieving Hospital-wide Patient Flow, 2nd edition (2020) (opens in a new tab); Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals, 2026 (opens in a new tab).
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