Apella launches ambient AI tool for OR scheduling

San Francisco-based Apella launched Apella Horizon on Aug. 20, expanding its real-time AI platform to include surgical scheduling and capacity optimization.

The system integrates predictive algorithms and ambient sensing to improve preoperative planning, real-time OR coordination and retrospective performance analysis. Apella said Horizon unifies real-time OR management, case scheduling forecasts and workflow efficiency data.

Early pilot sites observed 69 fewer delayed minutes per OR on optimized days while maintaining case volume, according to the company. The average share of cases under-scheduled by more than 30 minutes fell from 60 percent to 16 percent. Hospitals using the tool identified enough open time to add two surgical cases per OR per month and recorded a 46-point reduction in late OR days.

“When OR schedules rely on manually entered data, it can lead to inaccurate scheduling, which can impact resources and patients,” said Roberta Schwartz, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at Houston Methodist. “Ambient technology captures real-time, contextual insights, which helps us not only keep ORs running efficiently, but also find new capacity that isn’t obvious when you’re just looking at the block schedule.”

Apella Horizon connects with EHR case data and Apella’s existing OR management tools. It uses machine learning to flag likely over- or under-scheduled procedures, surface high-value open time, and recommend optimal case placement based on contextual factors like surgeon availability.

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