Improving on-time surgical starts in an operating room.
BACKGROUND
Operating rooms are expensive to run, and hospitals strive to be efficient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an initiative to improve starting on time in the operating room in an academic pediatric hospital.


METHODS
We used an 8-step approach to transforming an organization. A multidisciplinary team defined on-time starts, identified reasons for delays and instituted changes, including improving the same-day admission process, instituting a huddle of operating room staff each morning and providing feedback about on-time starts to staff.


RESULTS
The most common reasons for delay were surgeon and anesthesiologist unavailability and lack of preparedness of patients. The percentage of operations that began on time, defined as the patient being in the room, increased from about 6% to 60% over a 9-month period.


CONCLUSIONS
A targeted, multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach can increase the percentage of operations that begin on time in a pediatric hospital.
Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Research Institute, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the Departments of Surgery, Public Health Sciences and Health Policy, Management and Evaluations, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., Canada. james.wright@sickkids.ca
James G
JG
Wright
Ann
A
Roche
Antoine E
AE
Khoury
D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D013997:Time Factors