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Critical Components of Optimized OR Performance: Credible Data and an Effective Surgery Block Management System
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 | 2:00 pm ET | 1 CE Credit
Sponsored by LeanTaaS
Abstract:
As a hospital leader, it is indeed frustrating for you and/or your perioperative leadership to have difficult conversations with surgeons about block allocation and utilization, particularly when the data isn’t defensible and when surgeons can take their cases elsewhere. It is also challenging to decide how much time and flexibility you can afford to give new surgeons to grow their practice without tying up potentially underutilized time.
How can your organization establish a more effective, less stressful program for managing and optimizing your operating room schedule- particularly given today’s challenging environment of constrained nursing and anesthesia resources?
Join The University of Kansas Health System’s (TUKHS) Senior Director of Business Operations, Perioperative and Procedural Services to learn about creating an Effective Block Management System and learn how TUKHS was able to, in less than a year’s time, achieve a 20% increase in block utilization, 5% increase in prime time utilization and facilitate 98% more manual releases/transfers of time before the auto-release deadlines.
Learning Objectives:
- Define the characteristics of an effective block management system.
- Identify ways to break through historical barriers and confidently make quicker block allocation decisions.
- Explain why, even after a significant EHR investment, hospitals still need to invest in data management systems, particularly for the operating room.
Culture of Safety: Sharps Safety
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 | 12:00 pm ET | 1 CE Credit
Sponsored in partnership by: Molnlycke
Abstract
Operating Room risk factors require education about and protection from sharp injuries as well as physical, chemical and biological insults. Evidence, professional recommendations and statistics outline these risks and offer solutions. Content will outline protocols and implementation suggestions.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss the impact of occupational exposure on healthcare workers today
- Describe the ECRI method of product review
- Identify the benefits of Double Gloving in the OR
How to Rapidly Boost Your OR Utilization and Re-energize Staff: Allina Health’s Strategic Partnership Using AI & Automation
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 | 1:00 pm CST | 1 CE Credit
Sponsored in partnership by: Qventus
Abstract
As an OR leader, you’re facing overwhelming challenges due to staffing shortages, pent-up demand for OR time, and financial pressures. What new strategies can you use to rapidly optimize existing resources while simultaneously preventing burnout?
During this webinar, discover how Allina Health uses AI-powered automation software to simplify the OR scheduling process, re-energize staff and rapidly boost OR & block utilization. By automating manual OR processes, the health system rapidly increased OR access for surgeons, improved utilization, and grew strategic case volumes — delivering millions to the bottom line.
Learning Objectives:
- Add 2+ cases per OR per month and grow robotic cases by 50%
- Increase case volume by up to 10%
- Reduce manual work and boost staff satisfaction
- Create more predictability for staff schedules and decrease late-running cases
Perioperative Readiness to Optimize the Surgical Schedule
Thursday, November 10, 2022 | 1:00-2:00 pm ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Hospital IQ
Abstract
Disruption to the OR schedule is far too common. Attempts to fix issues come at a high cost (overnighting supplies, staff overtime). These disruptions frustrate staff, impact patient care, and cut into profit margins.
When you are able to streamline operational planning for cases through automation, you can minimize day-of impacts, maximize efficiency and reduce scheduling conflicts. Provide OR leadership with ample time to proactively resolve problems related to staffing, equipment, supplies, case length and patient readiness (including some issues you may have not otherwise been aware of).
In this session, learn how perioperative readiness helps run your surgical day as planned, giving you enough time to proactively and economically address barriers and optimize OR operational efficiency.
Learning objectives
- Learn how to automate surgical case planning to run cases more efficiently and run the surgical day as planned
- Anticipate and identify operational issues with staffing, equipment, supplies, case planning and patient readiness ahead of time
- Discover effective ways to streamline communication and overcome operational scheduling barriers
Lights, Camera, Action – for Performance Improvement
Thursday, October 27, 2022 | 1:00 PM ET | 1CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Caresyntax
Abstract
Ever walk into your OR and everything is suddenly perfect? Please join this session to learn how new AI enabled technology combined with analytics and surgical video can help you uncover root causes that create dysfunction and inefficiencies in your Operating Rooms. Let’s open up that black box (without the Hawthorne effect) to improve surgeon and staff satisfaction, as well as improve clinical outcomes such as SSI rates.
Learning Objectives
- Describe how analytical and video-based data can be used to improve performance and enhance teamwork.
- Describe how benchmarking can facilitate engagement for performance improvement.
- Participants will gain an understanding of technical skill and non-technical skill evaluation tools and their use.
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 | 1:00-2:00 pm ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Hospital IQ
When your ORs are not efficiently utilized, revenue is lost, patient and staff satisfaction declines, and resources are misallocated. However, optimizing capacity is a complex challenge:
- Block schedules intended to help with efficiency can unintentionally hinder OR scheduling, resulting in underutilization.
- You don’t have the information available to plan for cases and address barriers ahead of time.
- Cases that run longer than booked create delays. Those that run shorter result in missed opportunities for cases and revenue.
- Your perioperative staff schedule does not align with the upcoming case mix, leading to chaotic scrambles as you seek out the OR workforce you need to meet the planned day’s requirements.
In this session, learn how to take a holistic approach to managing the perioperative suite that will maximize efficiency, even with limited OR resources. Discover ways data and automated workflows can streamline operations and standardize case planning to create, find, and fill more OR time and maximize your surgical case volume based on available resources.
Resilience and Recovery Through Capacity Constraints, Staff Shortages, and Other Perioperative Challenges
Thursday, April 7 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: HospitalIQ
In the past few years, perioperative leaders have faced ever-evolving disruptions (growing case backlogs and short staffing, to name a few) that require rapid pivots in order to adequately manage ORs with little time or insight. Despite the setbacks, the pressure to perform as a hospital’s primary revenue driver by not only maintaining but improving operating performance and productivity remains.
Existing manual processes to manage perioperative operations and schedules have proven not only to be ineffective but to actually intensify the impact of these constraints. Join this webinar to learn how to unlock OR capacity whether you are recovering from a COVID wave or have returned to routine operations. From services that can help you prioritize backlogs or temporarily reconsider your block allocation, to a platform that helps you reclaim and redistribute OR time, we will discuss strategies on how to:
- Align OR capacity to staffing and demand to meet the needs of your current environment, whether its navigating short staffing or limited beds, managing backlogs, or optimizing your normal routine
- Provide visibility into available OR time and a centralized process to request or release time
- Remain productive during turbulent times by leveraging tools that provide access to real-time data to support fluidity
A Real-World View of Ureteroscope Reprocessing Effectiveness and What Has Happened Since the FDA Warning Letter in April 2021
Wednesday, January 12 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Boston Scientific
In today’s challenging surgical reprocessing environment, your teams have questions and concerns. Join us for a discussion on “A real world view of ureteroscope reprocessing effectiveness and what has happened since the FDA warning letter in April 2021” where we’ll discuss recent findings on ureteroscope reprocessing effectiveness and provide solutions to improve your reprocessing outcomes.
Cori Ofstead, who is a global Infection Prevention thought leader, will share her insights on why there continues to be infection outbreaks and injuries with reusable ureteroscopes and how that affects facility operations and patient safety.
Sharp Safety in 2021 – Learn What You Can Do to Follow the Current Guidelines in Your OR
Wednesday, December 8 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Mölnlycke
This webinar will discuss sharps safety and help you learn current guidelines to implement in your OR.
- Identify the importance of double gloving for sharps safety.
- Discuss the ECRI method for reviewing OR products.
- Describe the location for the international safety center sharps database.
Perioperative Nursing at the Breaking Point and How We Can Fix It
A Roundtable Discussion with Perioperative Executives from Five Leading US Health Systems
Tuesday, November 9 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: MobileSmith Health
Decades before COVID-19, hospitals were struggling with how to effectively meet and manage standards of patient care. While the current pandemic has clearly introduced new burdens on nurses and nurse management, in many ways, the pandemic has severely amplified old issues and combined them with a new generation of challenges. Historically, nursing has been incredibly resilient; so much so that hospital leadership has unfairly relied upon nurses to weather any storm. Are we finally at the breaking point? If so, what can be done to move us in the right direction?
Using Analytics to Drive Meaningful Clinical Change…From Actual Clinicians
Wednesday, October 6 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Surgical Directions
The Nurse and Physician Leadership at Surgical Directions will discuss the functional and tactical role analytics plays in their daily management and decision making. Not all data are required all the time. Given the volume of information that abounds in the procedural services and perioperative arenas, knowing exactly what data to focus on and for which tasks and objectives can be overwhelming.
Moreover, having a peer-to-peer lens is crucial to driving behavioral change as well as adopting and understanding such change. As such, our clinical experts will outline the specific ways they work with their nursing and physician peers to leverage analytics and drive meaningful, measurable benefits into the operating room.
How a Leading AMC Increased OR Utilization and Access with AI-powered Block Management
Wednesday, September 15 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Qventus
Today, perioperative leaders face the challenge of improving access while simultaneously driving growth and balancing competing priorities from multiple stakeholders. The current process is highly manual and relies on the heroic efforts of OR teams to ensure that all these stakeholders are meshing seamlessly.
It’s time for a new approach!
Join us to hear why Tammy Jones, PhD, RN, NE-BC, Chief Perioperative Officer of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is prioritizing new innovations in automation and artificial intelligence to address perennial challenges of access, block management, and utilization in the OR.
OR’s Juggling Act: Matching Supply of Anesthesia Coverage with Surgeon Demand for OR Time
Wednesday, August 18 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: LeanTaaS
Matching supply and demand patterns is a critical requirement in OR Management. On the supply side there is the staff (the right staff with the right skills), the ORs, anesthesia coverage, and the equipment; on the demand side there is the procedure volume, mix of types of volume, timing, and expected duration.
How can today’s OR managers and leaders ensure that surgeons have optimal access, that the ORs have the right staff and anesthesia coverage and balancing that with staffing shortages, anesthesia shortages, increasing case volume and declining reimbursement. These challenges require greater efficiency than those delivered by shaving off a few minutes of turnover time and greater visibility into underutilized blocks and staffed room utilization.
Patient Engagement: A Powerful ROI Strategy in ERAS and PSH Programs
Wednesday, July 28 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Twistle
Educating and coaching patients both before and after surgery has been shown to reduce same-day cancellations, length of stay, postoperative complications and readmissions, and referrals to skilled nursing facilities. Organizations can realize significant revenue gains and cost reduction by using secure messaging protocols to engage patients in achieving good outcomes. Attend this webinar to learn how focusing on patient engagement can help improve return on investment (ROI). Clinicians from leading healthcare organizations will present case studies illustrating the patient engagement ROI associated with Enhanced Recovery After Surgery and Perioperative Surgical Home programs.
Surviving a Surgical Glove Change
Wednesday, June 23 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Mölnlycke
Changing glove manufacturers can be a daunting task because surgeons and staff tend to have strong preferences about particular brands. A well-planned conversion, however, can overcome biases and benefit the bottom line. In this webinar, you will gain insight into value analysis, how to evaluate direct and indirect costs associated with glove changes, the importance of staff education, and the elements of a successful vendor partnership.
How to Reduce Your Operating Rooms Supply Cost by $1 Million and Increase Service Line Profitability by 15%
Thursday, June 10 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: VIE Healthcare Consulting
There are several challenges facing OR Leaders in cost management and maintaining healthy margins for surgical lines. The relentless rise of non-labor hospital costs is expected to continue throughout 2024. We are seeing an unprecedented price creep for OR implants and supplies.
For many OR leaders, cost control is a strategic priority. The Operating Room accounts for up to 70% of a hospital’s revenue, between 55% to 65% of its margins and 50% of a hospital’s costs – which makes the OR a foundational part of the financial success of a hospital.
Since the financial improvements are in the details, we will show you exactly where to look to uncover those details with the greatest financial benefit to your Operating Room.
Why the Health of Surgical Dictionaries Matters
Thursday, May 27 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Intelligent Medical Objects
Surgical scheduling dictionaries are foundational to managing operative care. Unfortunately, they’re not “set-it-and-forget it” tools – they are constantly evolving due to industry code set updates and the changing nature of healthcare. Without a dedicated dictionary maintenance team, terms can quickly fall out of date and put your organization at risk for inaccurate reporting, substandard reimbursements, and more.
How Advanced Analytics Enhance the Usefulness of Your EMR
Wednesday, May 12 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Surgical Directions
In this webinar, an expert panel will discuss the data needs of highly functional surgical services departments and the current shortcomings of electronic medical records (EMRs) in addressing those needs. You will learn how advanced analytics address EMR limitations and the benefits they provide for OR directors and their teams. Panelists will also suggest practices to get the most out of your data and explain how the data can be used to support planning and decision making
Building a Data-Driving Management Culture and Leveraging Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics
Wednesday, April 28 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: LeanTaaS
Electronic health records (EHRs) have long been the source of information for decisions about how to allocate OR time, but EHRs lack the predictive and prescriptive capabilities that are needed to maximize OR utilization.
Learn how hospitals around the country are successfully moving toward a fair and transparent system for scheduling cases, and managing block and open time while maximizing staff, equipment, and capital utilization. The results are impressive: $500K per OR per year improvement in revenue, 6%point+ increase in prime-time utilization, growth of surgical market share, increased surgeon, staff, and patient satisfaction.
Using AI for Dynamic Block Management
Wednesday, March 24 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Hospital IQ
Traditional approaches for managing perioperative block allocation are rigid and often lead to underutilized ORs and unsatisfied surgeons. For multiple reasons, including manual processes, a lack of trusted data, limited visibility of available OR time, and more, OR utilization is effectively capped with these methods.
In this webinar, learn how artificial intelligence and automated workflows can help organizations dynamically manage blocks and take their perioperative performance to the next level.
Leadership, Policy, and Transparency: Driving Sustainable Value, Efficiency, and Surgeon Utilization
Wednesday, December 3, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: LeanTaaS
Managing ORs is hard, especially without access to reliable and readily available data. EHRs that are built to capture information about patients and their care do not provide the level of data visibility or reliability needed to make daily as well as strategic decisions about expensive healthcare assets such as ORs. Ensuring surgeons have optimal access, knowing exactly where and how to drive efficiency, and delivering value to surgeons, patients, and staff are constant challenges. These challenges require greater visibility into available OR time and key performance indicators.
Reclaim Your Most Valuable Asset: Converting Unused OR Time into More Cases
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Surgical Directions
Operating rooms grapple with time lost due to late starts, lengthy turnovers, underutilized blocks, unused blocks, and more. At the same time, many surgeons are clamoring for increased access to handle more cases.
In this free webinar, Surgical Directions will present how to reclaim lost and wasted time that is holding back your OR. We will discuss how waste happens, how to measure it, and, critically, how to organize for success to convert the lost time into additional cases for your facility. With over 25 years of experience working at hundreds of hospitals and ASCs, the Surgical Directions team has the expertise to discuss ways to improve your financial performance and patient experience.
Surgical Hands: A Chemical Battlefield in the OR
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Molnlycke Biogel
Occupational contact dermatitis, an inflammatory skin condition that occurs due to workplace exposure, can have long-term consequences, causing some healthcare workers to miss work and even change jobs. Nurses working in surgical wards and intensive care units are at the highest risk among healthcare workers.
Surgical gloves are a common culprit of both irritant and allergic contact dermatitis in the healthcare setting. Glove-associated irritants include wet work, friction, air occlusion, excessive sweating, and poor hand hygiene. In addition, wearers may incur allergic contact dermatitis to chemical additives, especially accelerators that are added to speed up the manufacturing process, in both latex and synthetic gloves.
This free webinar will help you understand treatment and prevention measures relative to Occupational Contact Dermatitis, including switching to gloves that have been manufactured without chemicals accelerators known to cause contact dermatitis.
OR Infection Prevention in the COVID Era: A Focus on Urology and Ureteroscope Reprocessing
Wednesday, September 16, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | 1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Boston Scientific & Ofstead & Associates
In today’s ever-changing COVID environment, you and your surgical team may have questions and concerns. Please join us for a discussion on infection prevention strategies with special focus given to urology and ureteroscope reprocessing practices. Presenter Cori Ofstead, a global infection prevention thought leader, will share her insights on COVID in urine, scope reprocessing effectiveness and risk of infection transmission in urology, and recommendations for minimizing risk to protect patients and staff alike. Key discussion points during this moderated webinar will include recent findings on ureteroscope reprocessing effectiveness and how to better manage this during COVID and beyond.
Lean and Patient Safety: The Perfect Perioperative Partners
Wednesday, July 29, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | 1 CE
Presented in partnership by: OPS
Unprecedented times present unique opportunities. We all know how the pandemic has disrupted perioperative and elective services. The pandemic is challenging us, but it has also presented us with an opportunity to evaluate many processes during the re-start of surgical service lines. As you re-deploy you will find many opportunities for improvement. You have the ability with the right approach to improve quality, staff and surgeon satisfaction, patient satisfaction, flow, and expense.
How do you take advantage of this moment in time to identify the challenges that have plagued your OR for years, create logical plans, and finally implement solutions that work? During this free webinar, we will share Lean tools and methodologies that can help you attain a future state that is better than the pre-pandemic normal. You will learn straightforward Lean practices, tips, and tools that can help you improve perioperative services for the benefit of all. Discussion will also include case study examples of how Lean thinking can work to improve the effectiveness of your OR, every day, for everyone.
How OR Managers Can Save Capital Dollars with an Equipment-Sharing Initiative Post COVID-19
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. |1 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Cohealo
As hospitals resume their elective case schedule post COVID-19, there will be significant demand for capital equipment. Not only will case volume be higher in operating rooms, but also extended into more sites of care such as medical office buildings, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and specialty clinics. At the same time, healthcare leaders know that returning their organization to financial health means doing more with less, with fewer capital dollars available for new equipment purchases.
Join speakers Todd Rothenhaus, MD, and Brett Reed for this free webinar to learn about a step-by-step approach for implementing a program to share equipment between hospitals, an entirely new way to save that maximizes equipment utilization, eliminates rental fees, and reduces capital expenses. As elective surgeries are rescheduled, explore how an equipment-sharing program can help expand service lines into new sites of care—without the corresponding capital costs—and address new requests for equipment.
Restoring Your Elective Surgery Caseload Post COVID-19
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Sponsored in partnership by: LeanTaaS
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, most hospitals are cancelling or postponing elective surgeries. Addressing the large backlog to restore elective surgery caseload is a top post-pandemic priority of OR leaders. This will require careful planning and execution in the coming weeks and months to identify the backlog, manage block versus open time, open more time to perform more cases, and accommodate the pent-up volume given each hospital’s available resources (rooms, staffing, locations).
Join us for this free webinar as industry experts provide a set of tools and a step-by-step approach as part of a model for successfully managing and restoring elective surgery caseload. Attendees will learn how to access the model for use at their institutions and be able to ask questions following the presentation.
The Road to Recovery: OR Management After the COVID-10 Crisis
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | 0 CE
Sponsored in partnership by: Surgical Directions
The case volume and operational disruptions from the COVID-19 crisis will very likely have an enduring impact on hospital operating room management. Picking up the pieces and positioning the OR for successful recovery will be a significant challenge. This webinar outlines the steps necessary to recover as much case volume as possible, including how to handle changes in daily operations, and proactive management of patients for the elective surgical recovery period. We will also discuss the critical need for partnership with physicians and patients to keep communication lines open.
Join this free webinar to review effective strategies for helping your OR in the wake of COVID-19. We will share suggested practices and tools that can help your surgical department recover while running effectively and efficiently. Please note that there will be no CEs offered for this webinar.
Free Daily News
- Value assessment of a trauma hybrid OR
- SHEA: Strategies to prevent SSIs updated
- FDA: Class I recall of Draeger Medical’s Seattle PAP Plus, breathing circuit/anesthesia kits
- Surgeon-scientists represent less than 2% of all investigators awarded NIH funding
- New EHR generative AI by Microsoft, Epic currently being piloted
- Development of a definition for long COVID
- The Joint Commission seeking comments on proposed new infection control requirements for hospitals, critical access hospitals
- Using human-AI collaboration to monitor PPE donning, doffing
- The Joint Commission: Licensed independent practitioner term eliminated from AHC, OBS accreditation programs
- Projected growth of nursing, OR-related occupations 2021-2031
