Tag: Scheduling & Utilization

How will artificial intelligence impact surgical patient care? Part 2

As part of a special series on artificial intelligence (AI), OR Manager is taking a deep dive into the many facets of this new technology and its impact on patient care. Part 1 of this introduction to the series (OR Manager, May 2019, 1, 7-11) defined several different types of…

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By: Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
May 17, 2019
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New technology and workflow lead to surgical volume growth

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMH) in Sarasota, Florida, is a Level 2 trauma center with 839 beds and more than 900 physicians. The 430 members of the surgical staff perform more than 24,300 inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures in the 34 operating suites each year. With this level of…

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By: OR Manager
April 22, 2019
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Study: Outcomes with overlapping surgery

Editor's Note This study from a large academic medical center finds that the practice of overlapping surgery does not expose patients to increased risk of negative outcomes. Data on operative procedures from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, were used to compare…

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By: Judy Mathias
February 11, 2019
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Block schedule best practices: Calculate, allocate, and regulate

A common strategy for managing OR utilization is block scheduling: Assigning surgical time to individual surgeons or surgeon groups based on their volume. But what sounds like a simple process is often complicated by the potential for dissatisfaction and reduced utilization. Yet done effectively, block scheduling can significantly boost the…

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By: Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
November 14, 2018
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Room utilization rises with dynamic block scheduling

Inefficiencies in surgical case scheduling can lead to large revenue losses. When leaders at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center (SHMC) in Spokane, Washington, realized poor room utilization was the cause of more than $1 million in annual overtime costs, they knew that better planning was needed. “For every 60 minutes…

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By: Cynthia Saver, MS, RN
November 14, 2018
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Surgical Council facilitates service line moves between hospitals

To improve healthcare delivery and eliminate duplication, hospitals are banding together into systems in which specialties such as labor and delivery and smaller surgical cases are performed at satellite hospitals, and larger, more complex procedures are done at the main campus. This is the approach taken at the Cleveland Clinic,…

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By: Judith M. Mathias, MA, RN
May 18, 2018
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Electronic scheduling system radically improves OR workflow

Between the expanding population and the increasing number of surgical procedures being performed, demand for surgical services is climbing. One study has predicted a 14% to 47% increase in surgical demand across all surgical fields by 2020. Given the high cost of operations, an efficient workflow is paramount, and there…

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By: Weston Shertzer, DO, Abdel Ragab, MD, Timothy Frymoyer, Matt Fitzpatrick, Courtney Gorgone, MBA, SSBB and Kelly Baylor, CCRC
July 13, 2017
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START makes a good case for greater scheduling accuracy

Accurate OR case scheduling is a key performance indicator that is challenging to manage. The published literature often focuses on scheduling algorithms using historical data, the surgeon’s own estimate, or a mix of similar procedures. This mathematical approach neglects the cultural, economic, behavioral, and process challenges that impact attempts to…

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By: OR Manager
May 17, 2017
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ECRI Institute white paper on staffing and scheduling

Editor's Note The ECRI Institute has issued a white paper titled, “Responsive staffing and scheduling in aging services: A systems rethinking approach.” Problems in staffing and scheduling can lead to potentially dangerous conditions, which can cause performance gaps in delivery of care and services. To better address these problems, providers…

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By: Judy Mathias
November 9, 2016
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Implications of patient age, ASA status on OR management decisions

Editor's Note Evaluation of patient age and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status as variables can help OR managers better predict turnaround times, which can facilitate scheduling, this study finds. Researchers developed models of turnaround times of 13, 632 OR procedures with respect to multiple variables including surgical schedule,…

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By: Judy Mathias
March 23, 2016
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