Giving Appointments to Patients for Surgeries, and Scheduling Surgeries to Operating Rooms in a Day

Abstract Background Careful scheduling of elective surgery Operating Rooms (ORs) is crucial for their efficient use, to avoid low/over utilization and staff overtime. Accurate estimation of procedures duration is essential to improve ORs scheduling. Therefore analysis of historical data about surgical times is fundamental to ORs management. We analyzed the effect, in a real setting, of an ORs scheduling model based on estimated optimum surgical time in improving ORs efficiency and decreasing the risk of overtime. Methods We studied all the 2014-2019 elective surgery sessions (3,758 sessions, 12,449 interventions) of a district general hospital in Siena's Province, Italy. The hospital had3 ORs open 5 days/week 08:00-14:00. Surgery specialties were general surgery, orthopedics, gynecology and urology. Based on a pilot study conducted in 2016, which estimated a 5 times greater risk of having an OR overtime for sessions with a surgical time (incision-suture)>200 minutes, from 2017 all the ORs were scheduled using a maximum surgical time of 200 minutes calculated summing the mean surgical times for intervention and surgeon (obtained from 2014-2016 data). We carried out multivariate logistic regression to calculate the probability of ORs overtime (of 15 and 30 minutes) for the periods 2014-2016 and 2017-2019adjusting for raw ORs utilization. Results The 2017-2019 risk of an OR overtime of 15 minutes decreased by 25% compared to the 2014-2016 period (OR = 0.75, 95%CI=0.618-0.902, p = 0.003); the risk of a OR overtime of 30 minutes decreased by 33% (OR = 0.67, 95%CI= 0.543-0.831, p < 0.001). Mean raw OR utilization increase from 62% to 66% (p < 0.001). Mean number of interventions per surgery sessions increased from 3.1 to 3.5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions This study has shown that an analysis of historical data and an estimate of the optimal surgical time per surgical session could be helpful to avoid both a low and excessive use of the ORs and therefore to increase the efficiency of the ORs. Key messages An accurate analysis of surgical procedures duration is crucial to optimize operating room utilization. A data-based approach can improve OR management efficiency without extra resources.

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Noise in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery operating rooms: a systematic review

Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery ◽

10.1186/s40463-020-00487-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gianluca Sampieri ◽

Amirpouyan Namavarian ◽

Marc Levin ◽

Justine Philteos ◽

Jong Wook Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Patient Outcomes ◽

Noise Level ◽

Neck Surgery ◽

Operating Rooms ◽

Head And Neck Surgery ◽

Noise Levels ◽

Surgical Performance ◽

The Mean

Abstract Objective Noise in operating rooms (OR) can have negative effects on both patients and surgical care workers. Noise can also impact surgical performance, team communication, and patient outcomes. Such implications of noise have been studied in orthopedics, neurosurgery, and urology. High noise levels have also been demonstrated in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) procedures. Despite this, no previous study has amalgamated the data on noise across all OHNS ORs to determine how much noise is present during OHNS surgeries. This study aims to review all the literature on noise associated with OHNS ORs and procedures. Methods Ovid Medline, EMBASE Classic, Pubmed, SCOPUS and Cochrane databases were searched following PRISMA guidelines. Data was collected on noise measurement location and surgery type. Descriptive results and statistical analysis were completed using Stata. Results This search identified 2914 articles. Final inclusion consisted of 22 studies. The majority of articles analyzed noise level exposures during mastoid surgery (18/22, 82%). The maximum noise level across all OHNS ORs and OHNS cadaver studies were 95.5 a-weighted decibels (dBA) and 106.6 c-weighted decibels (dBC), respectively (P = 0.2068). The mean noise level across all studies was significantly higher in OHNS cadaver labs (96.9 dBA) compared to OHNS ORs (70.1 dBA) (P = 0.0038). When analyzed together, the mean noise levels were 84.9 dBA. Conclusions This systematic review demonstrates that noise exposure in OHNS surgery exceeds safety thresholds. Further research is needed to understand how noise may affect team communication, surgical performance and patient outcomes in OHNS ORs. Graphical abstract

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Program Extension for Data Analysis from Operating Rooms

2020 International Conference on e-Health and Bioengineering (EHB) ◽

10.1109/ehb50910.2020.9280250 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Valeriia Trukhan ◽

Lenka Horakova ◽

Martin Rozanek

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Operating Rooms

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Design Opportunities to Reduce Waste in Operating Rooms

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13042207 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 2207

Author(s):

Charlotte Harding ◽

Joren Van Loon ◽

Ingrid Moons ◽

Gunter De Win ◽

Els Du Bois

Keyword(s):

Operating Room ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Operating Rooms ◽

Medical Waste ◽

Waste Reduction ◽

Infrastructure Management ◽

Expert Interviews ◽

Hospital Waste ◽

Observation Results ◽

Taking Care

While taking care of the population’s health, hospitals generate mountains of waste, which in turn causes a hazard to the environment of the population. The operating room is responsible for a disproportionately big amount of hospital waste. This research aims to investigate waste creation in the operating room in order to identify design opportunities to support waste reduction according to the circular economy. Eight observations and five expert interviews were conducted in a large sized hospital. The hospital’s waste infrastructure, management, and sterilization department were mapped out. Findings are that washable towels and operation instruments are reused; paper, cardboard, and specific fabric are being recycled; and (non-)hazardous medical waste is being incinerated. Observation results and literature findings are largely comparable, stating that covering sheets of the operation bed, sterile clothing, sterile packaging, and department-specific products are as well the most used and discarded. The research also identified two waste hotspots: the logistical packaging (tertiary, secondary, and primary) of products and incorrect sorting between hazardous and non-hazardous medical waste. Design opportunities include optimization of recycling and increased use of reusables. Reuse is the preferred method, more specifically by exploring the possibilities of reuse of textiles, consumables, and packaging.

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Adenovirus presence in surfaces and equipment from ambulatories, internship units, and operating rooms in a Brazilian hospital

American Journal of Infection Control ◽

10.1016/j.ajic.2014.02.007 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 42 (6) ◽

pp. 693-694 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Joseane Vanessa dos Santos da Silva ◽

Mateus Henrique de Mello ◽

Rodrigo Staggemeier ◽

Andréia Henzel ◽

Caroline Rigotto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Operating Rooms

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