title: Scheduling of elective surgical cases within allocated block-times: can the future be drawn from the experience of the past?
abstract: We determined a strategy to regulate the elective occupation of operating rooms; it was based on the determination of a median operating room occupation time, per procedure and per operator.
  
  
  METHODS
  Median occupation times were determined from a retrospective analysis of 12 consecutive months of operating activity (966 patients). These data were prospectively used in surgical planning, with a daily occupation limit set at 10 hours. After four months collecting data, daily recorded (ROT) and predicted (POT) occupation times were compared. The surgical activity during that test period (group A) was compared to the activity of the same period in the previous year (group B) and the evolution of the waiting lists for surgery were analysed for each of the operators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of the four-month observation period, 317 surgical cases spread over 105 operating days were recorded. The correlation between ROT and POT was strong (r = 0.911, p < 0.001). The relative error in this prediction was 13 +/- 11 min. In comparison with group B, group A was characterized by a significant reduction in occurrence (p = 0.015) and duration (p = 0.007) of time limit overruns and in variability of daily occupation time (p < 0.001). The waiting list was reduced for all operators at the end of the test period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Determination of individualized median occupation times, associated with definition of a daily limit, resulted in reduction of time overruns and delays before surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, University Clinics UCL of MontGodinne, Yvoir, Belgium. broka@anes.ucl.ac.be
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Broka
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jamart
authors.forename: Y A G
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Louagie
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D009870:Operating Room Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D017748:Time Management / Q000458:organization & administration*