Creating an Efficient Operating Room

The cost of healthcare in the United States continues to increase exponentially, while at the same time reimbursement rates continue to decrease. Now more than ever it is vital for hospitals to find ways to improve quality while at the same time decreasing costs. Operating rooms are a fertile ground to test the powerful potentials of this strategy, as they are at once the most lucrative areas in hospitals, and also the most inefficient and costly (Cerfolio et. al., 2019). There are multiple metrics at the root of operating room inefficiencies, and only a thorough understanding of those metrics can guide the choice of the interventions needed for improvement. There are also multiple different proven interventions that can be used to improve operating room efficiency ranging broadly in both scope and scale. Recently, an academic hospital in Pittsburgh implemented a project looking into reasons behind longer operating room turnover time. The project uncovered numerous inefficiencies in operating room procedures and processes like excessive holding time and pre-operative time, procedure add-ons, transport, room delays, surgeon delays, direct ICU hand off, staffing, and room staggered. Identifying inefficiencies creates opportunities for improvement through a variety of initiatives both small and large. This research paper outlines different metrics associate with intra-operative and pre-operative inefficiencies and different interventions that can streamline processes