Workforce Innovation Developed by Maryland’s Largest Healthcare System Accelerates Nurse Readiness, Saves More Than $3.8 Million

A Practical Solution to A Real Problem, OARS (Orientation Assessment Reporting System) Is Now Available To Other Health Systems via University of Maryland Medical System’s iHarbor Innovation Studio

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new technology platform developed at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) designed to streamline nurse onboarding has saved UMMS nearly $4 million in labor costs while improving resource allocation and bolstering new hire nurse readiness and confidence. OARS (Orientation Assessment Reporting System), an evidence-based nurse onboarding and orientation platform, is now being made commercially available through the iHarbor Innovation Center, UMMS’ innovation and incubation studio that builds digital health and artificial intelligence products and solutions.

Developed by nurse leaders at UMMS, OARS is a clinically validated tool that determines nursing practice readiness among new-hire nurses during orientation and improves the speed, consistency and quality of nurse orientation tasks, while providing detailed analytics to key stakeholders within nursing units, hospitals and medical systems.

OARS is the brainchild of two UMMS nurse leaders: Susie Williams, MSN, BS, RN, CCRN, formerly Senior Clinical Nurse II on the Medical ICU and now Manager of Clinical Nurse Development at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the System’s flagship academic hospital, and Danielle Wray, MS, BSN, RN, formerly Director of Clinical Practice & Education at UMMC and now OARS Customer Success Manager at iHarbor.

“When I was in orientation, I was moved around to multiple nurse preceptors. I received various forms of feedback about how I was progressing but there were no objective data or clear criteria that was visible to me as the new hire to say, ‘These things must be true for you to be ready for independent practice,’” Williams said. “And it became apparent that a more objective and data-driven process was needed.”

OARS combines self- and preceptor-based readiness assessments, progress reporting and advanced analytics and can be used on unit-based workstations and mobile devices. While most nurse orientation processes are based on time-based measurements, OARS creates a consistent framework for assessing actual clinical readiness, an approach which helps move new hire nurses to clinical readiness faster and more effectively.

The OARS readiness assessment model uses validated nursing competency domains to assess readiness for independent practice. These assessments feed the progress reporting function to uncover learning opportunities and track growth throughout the orientation journey. OARS transforms assessment data into meaningful analytics across nurse orientees, competency domains, preceptors, units, cohorts and organizations. Over time, leaders can identify trends, compare outcomes, understand what’s driving success and uncover opportunities for improvement.

In 2020, Williams replaced outdated paper-based processes with online check-ins and workflow automations. In 2022, Williams partnered with Wray to expand OARS to eight additional units across UMMC. With success realized at the System’s largest hospital, a decision was made to scale OARS to select units across UMMS the following year. In 2025, iHarbor began the work to transform the OARS platform into a Systemwide workforce solution, and this year the OARS platform was rolled out to all UMMS nursing departments. By turning orientation data into meaningful insights, OARS is helping UMMS optimize onboarding programs, improve nurse readiness and confidence and build a more resilient nursing workforce.

“At iHarbor, we pride ourselves on bringing innovations from within UMMS to the broader healthcare ecosystem,” said Guy Henggeler, an UMMS vice president and interim head of the iHarbor Innovation Center. “OARS is a practical solution to a real problem in clinical staffing, and we believe it could help other health systems.”

A paper published earlier this year by the National Academy of Medicine authored by more than a dozen academic and health system nursing leaders suggests that strong orientation and support can help improve nurse retention, and that there is a growing emphasis on healthcare organizations helping nurses transition confidently into clinical practice.

“OARS provides an evidence-based approach to assessing nurses’ readiness for independent practice, moving beyond traditional, time-based orientation models,” said Bob Dent, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive for UMMS. “Our experience with OARS demonstrates that many nurses achieve practice readiness sooner and with greater confidence. We believe these outcomes can play an important role in improving retention and reducing turnover. This approach supports both nurse success and workforce stability without compromising quality or safety.”

“The most powerful workforce innovations come from nurses who have lived the problem. We have built something nursing has rarely had at enterprise scale: a shared, objective definition of readiness. When new nurses feel confident and supported from day one, they stay. That’s how we retain the talent we work so hard to recruit,” said Nicole Beeson, DNP, MBA, RN, CENP, Vice President of Enterprise Nursing Operations and Care Delivery Innovation at UMMS.

OARS is the second commercially available product to come from iHarbor and UMMS. iHarbor previously commercialized Gallion Health, an award-winning cloud-based digital supply chain platform. Now available to other hospital systems, Gallion integrates with electronic health record and enterprise resource planning systems, automating bill-only supply consumption tracking, charges and contract compliance. UMMS spun off Gallion as a private company in July 2025.

OARS will be featured at the iHarbor and UMMS booth (booth 4618) at the HLTH USA 2026 conference, Nov. 16-18 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high-quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

About iHarbor

The iHarbor Innovation Center at the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) focuses on solving complex but common problems in health care. iHarbor is reimagining health care delivery, operations and administration — developing transformational products and solutions that dramatically improve health care outcomes, efficiency, quality and value. These solutions revolutionize treatment and bring superior experiences to patients, clinicians and administrators alike. For more information about iHarbor, visit www.iharbor.umms.org.