Here are three points on the importance of turnover time in running an effective hospital operating room from John Di Capua, MD, deputy CEO and CMO of North American Partners in Anesthesia and vice president of anesthesia services of Great Neck, N.Y.-based North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
1. There is always room to improve. All hospitals should focus on reaching and surpassing turnover time targets, although they will vary by organization, "In my experience, throughout all of the hospitals I've ever consulted or that we've managed, there's always room for improvement in turnover time. It's been a problem that's plagued perioperative services for quite some time," Dr. Di Capua says.
2. Anesthesia should take the lead. Anesthesia providers are well placed to lead turnover improvement initiatives due to their daily presence in the OR. "The surgeons are certainly critically important to the OR, but they come and go. Anesthesia, on the other hand, is present in the OR every single day. Working in concert with nursing leadership, anesthesia should take the leadership position in trying to improve patient flow," Dr. Di Capua says.
3. Turnover time impacts surgeon and patient satisfaction. While decreasing turnover time may not yield sufficient time savings to add another case, it can greatly improve surgeon and patient satisfaction. "[Decreased turnover time has] a positive impact on both the surgeon and patient experience," Dr. Di Capua says. "In respect to the surgeons, it assures them of the commitment of the OR team in getting those cases done safely and efficiently. And the impact on patient satisfaction is significant when their cases are actually on time."
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1. There is always room to improve. All hospitals should focus on reaching and surpassing turnover time targets, although they will vary by organization, "In my experience, throughout all of the hospitals I've ever consulted or that we've managed, there's always room for improvement in turnover time. It's been a problem that's plagued perioperative services for quite some time," Dr. Di Capua says.
2. Anesthesia should take the lead. Anesthesia providers are well placed to lead turnover improvement initiatives due to their daily presence in the OR. "The surgeons are certainly critically important to the OR, but they come and go. Anesthesia, on the other hand, is present in the OR every single day. Working in concert with nursing leadership, anesthesia should take the leadership position in trying to improve patient flow," Dr. Di Capua says.
3. Turnover time impacts surgeon and patient satisfaction. While decreasing turnover time may not yield sufficient time savings to add another case, it can greatly improve surgeon and patient satisfaction. "[Decreased turnover time has] a positive impact on both the surgeon and patient experience," Dr. Di Capua says. "In respect to the surgeons, it assures them of the commitment of the OR team in getting those cases done safely and efficiently. And the impact on patient satisfaction is significant when their cases are actually on time."
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