Utilization of lean project management principles and health informatics to reduce operating room delays in a vascular surgery practice.
Am J Surg
; 223(1): 176-181, 2022 Jan.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1568479
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Perioperative inefficiency can increase cost. We describe a process improvement initiative that addressed preoperative delays on an academic vascular surgery service.METHODS:
First case vascular surgeries from July 2019-January 2020 were retrospectively reviewed for delays, defined as late arrival to the operating room (OR). A stakeholder group spearheaded by a surgeon-informaticist analyzed this process and implemented a novel electronic medical records (EMR) preoperative tool with improved preoperative workflow and role delegation; results were reviewed for 3 months after implementation.RESULTS:
57% of cases had first case on-time starts with average delay of 19 min. Inappropriate preoperative orders were identified as a dominant delay source (average delay = 38 min). Three months post-implementation, 53% of first cases had on-time starts with average delay of 11 min (P < 0.05). No delays were due to missing orders.CONCLUSIONS:
Inconsistent preoperative workflows led to inappropriate orders and delays, increasing cost and decreasing quality. A novel EMR tool subsequently reduced delays with projected savings of $1,200/case. Workflow standardization utilizing informatics can increase efficiency, raising the value of surgical care.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Operating Rooms
/
Vascular Surgical Procedures
/
Medical Informatics
/
Cost Savings
/
Efficiency, Organizational
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Am J Surg
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.amjsurg.2021.07.040
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