Customer testimonial AZ Groeninge (NL)

Since 2021, AZ Groeninge has increased the usage rate of its operating theatre by nearly 11%. This progress was no coincidence. It resulted from a deliberate, structured journey in which OK Insights, Value4Health’s analytics module for the operating theatre, played a central role.

What began as an effort to improve efficiency evolved into a structural shift in how physicians, nurses, and management within the OR organize their work, collaborate, and make decisions.

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The challenge: growing complexity and the need for objective steering

Following the merger of four campuses, AZ Groeninge evolved into one of the largest operating theatre complexes in Belgium, with twenty-five theatres and a broad range of clinical specialties. That scale also brought complexity: differences in planning, utilization, and working methods across teams.

“In a hospital of our size, we could no longer rely on experience alone,” says Dr. Matthias Desmet, anesthesiologist and medical coordinator of the operating theatre. “We needed hard data to understand where time was being lost and where there was still room for improvement. Only then can you steer based on facts rather than gut feeling.”

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A reliable data model as the foundation

OK Insights is built on the operational data recorded in the operating theatre. At AZ Groeninge, this data is sourced directly from the electronic patient record, KWS (Clinical Workstation). For each procedure—approximately 65,000 per year—all relevant timestamps are captured automatically: patient arrival, start of anesthesia, incision, awakening, departure from the operating room, and transfer to recovery.

These time registrations are exported daily to the hospital’s internal data warehouse, where they are validated and cleaned. The monthly datasets are then automatically transferred to Value4Health, where they are processed within the OK Insights module using uniform definitions.

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Objective data enables optimal planning

The dashboard presents validated, retrospective data used for policy analysis and process improvement. It is not a real-time planning tool, but a strategic cockpit that makes patterns visible and enables evidence-based decision-making.

At AZ Groeninge, OK Insights has led to a tangible improvement in operational planning. Access to objective data on the allocation of OR time per specialty, the sequencing of procedures, and staff deployment generated insights that optimized block scheduling—resulting in less over- and underutilization, shorter turnover times between procedures, and more accurate start times at the beginning of the day, explains OR planner Tom Boury.

Combined with better coordination between patient transport, anesthesia, and preoperative preparation, this translated into a structural increase in operating room utilization between 2022 and 2025 of nearly 11%, rising from 75% to 82%—an improvement clearly reflected in both planning performance and the day-to-day flow of the operating theatre.

From insight to improvement

Once data quality was brought up to standard, the operating theatre team was able to base decisions on objective information rather than assumptions. “We use the dashboard four to six times a year in the overarching OR committee,” says Dr. Matthias Desmet. “For me, the key parameters are block utilization, start times, lost time due to cancellations or underplanning, and the distribution of OR time per specialty. These indicators quickly reveal where structural shortages or surpluses exist.”

The data also enables scenario simulations. “I can now calculate the impact of introducing a dedicated emergency theatre or adjusting shift schedules—insights we simply didn’t have before. Based on that, we can define policy: reallocate OR time, request additional capacity, or deploy staff more efficiently.”

The visualizations also built trust—not only among physicians, but within the financial leadership as well. “The finance department now uses these insights as an objective basis for staffing and investment decisions,” explains Director of Patient Care Petra Archie. “When we request additional nurses or operating rooms, we can demonstrate that existing capacity is already being used to its full potential. That makes discussions both easier and more constructive.”

Tangible improvements

The analyses performed with OK Insights led to a series of concrete improvements:

• Faster start of the first procedure of the day, enabled by better synchronization between patient transport and anesthesia preparation.
• More balanced distribution of procedures across the week, reducing peak workloads and waiting times.
• Revised block scheduling per specialty, achieving a better balance between demand and available capacity.
• Less lost time through shorter turnover intervals, fewer cancellations, and improved preparation.
• More efficient staff deployment, aligned with planned activity levels.
• Shorter overruns at the end of the day, contributing to a more balanced workload for teams.

“We have become more efficient as an operating theatre,” says Dr. Matthias Desmet. “But we have also become more transparent and more mature. Over the years, I’ve seen the team work in an increasingly data-driven way. Everyone understands that what happens is visible. That creates awareness, accountability, and even a sense of pride.”

Objective data, different conversations

For OR manager Els Lameire, OK Insights primarily changed the way teams collaborate. “In the past, discussions were often driven by gut feeling,” she explains. “The dashboard introduced a neutral point of reference. Today, there is calm: everyone knows decisions are based on the same numbers.”

The dashboard also provides insight into overtime, waiting times, and peak moments, enabling the team to respond more effectively to unwanted trends. “We can clearly see patterns in emergency cases, semi-urgent procedures, and weekend activity,” says Els Lameire. “This allows us to deploy staff and resources in a much more targeted way. Data helps us understand each other better. The conversation has shifted from ‘who is right?’ to ‘what are the numbers telling us?’”

From data to culture

Above all, what OK Insights has brought to AZ Groeninge is a culture of transparency and collaboration. “Today, we operate much more as one team,” says Dr. Matthias Desmet. “Anesthesiologists, surgeons, and nurses look at the same facts together. That builds trust.”

Five success factors for OK Insights

1. Data quality above all
   Start with reliable, validated data from core systems such as the electronic patient record (KWS).
2. One shared version of the truth
   Ensure physicians, nurses, and management work with the same figures.
3. Embedded in governance structures
   Make data a fixed topic in formal consultation moments, such as the overarching OR committee.
4. Focus on action
   Use dashboards not only to measure performance, but to define and steer concrete improvement initiatives.
5. Continuous follow-up
   Review results regularly and continue to improve iteratively.

A structural partnership

Over the course of six years, the collaboration between AZ Groeninge and Value4Health evolved from a traditional implementation project into a structural partnership. What started as the introduction of an analytics tool grew into a joint effort to generate deeper insights and develop new functionalities.

“We are not in a customer–vendor relationship, but rather partners in development,” says Dr. Matthias Desmet. “Value4Health truly listens to our feedback. When we identify improvement opportunities during our analyses, they are incorporated into subsequent dashboard releases. That allows the tool to evolve in line with the realities of daily practice.”

“That is what makes the difference,” Dr. Desmet emphasizes. “OK Insights is not a static product, but a living instrument. It evolves with the hospital’s needs, while other hospitals benefit from those improvements as well. In that way, we strengthen each other across the entire sector.”

Insights delivered by OK Insights

With OK Insights, Value4Health supports hospitals such as AZ Groeninge in their transition toward data-driven performance management—where insight drives efficiency, and data fosters a culture of collaboration and trust. The OK Insights module provides the following information:

• The cockpit: data by specialty, utilization, total operating time, and effectively allocated time
• Capacity overview in relation to opening hours
• Trends in number of procedures, block utilization, and unused capacity
• Block utilization by time period
• The “bowler hat” chart, showing planned capacity, theoretical capacity, and actual utilization (both scheduled and emergency cases)
• Procedure times by phase, surgeon, and anesthesiologist
• Planning accuracy: planned time versus actual time
• Benchmarking for major operating rooms, overall or per specialty
• Weekend and night activity
• Admission type
• Staffing levels

The so-called “bowler hat” chart is the most frequently used visualization during evaluation sessions of the overarching OR committee. It illustrates the relationship between planned capacity (blue line), theoretical capacity (dotted line), and actual utilization of the operating rooms—shown in green for scheduled cases and in orange for emergency procedures.