Who is responsible for OR delays? And what can we do about them?

Every two or three years, someone, usually a hospital administrator, decides that delays in operating room turnover time need to be looked into. A committee of 20 or 30 stakeholders (love that term) is appointed and assigns someone the job of measuring the time between cases and identifying reasons for delays. In years when turnover time is not being studied, first case starting delays are on the agenda. In my nearly 24 years as a surgical department chair, one or the other of these issues was investigated at least ten times. We were never able to conclusively determine the exact causes of delays or solutions to the problem, and we returned to business as usual. An article in Anesthesiology News about a paper that looked at causes of operating room delays in over 15,500 cases at a single hospital got my attention. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Surgery Source Type: blogs