Abstract:

OR (O.R.) efficiencies affect the bottom line, patient, physician, and employee satisfaction, and the ability to work in emergent cases in a timely manner. at University Hospital St. Paul, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, when we started our review of turn-around time we decided to include all of the staff that we could involve. A survey was posted both electronically and provided in paper form to give as many staff members as possible the ability to include their feedback on this very complicated process. Survey return was approximately 40% of the O.R. staff which provided a broad base of information and ideas associated with turn-around time. In parallel we looked at services that had rapid turn-around to determine what was occurring to facilitate the process, such as team members, complexity of the procedure, instruments, supplies, and equipment required. Survey data was compiled and best practices identified within the O.R. resulting in a blended implementation of best internal practices and process changes. The team involved in this project included O.R. staff and leadership, anesthesia providers, and surgeons, which reported back to an O.R. leadership team that includes leadership from the three (3) O.R. sites on campus.