title: Increasing operating room productivity by duration categories and a newsvendor model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies approach surgery scheduling mainly from the mathematical modeling perspective which is often hard to apply in a practical environment. The aim of this study is to develop a practical scheduling system that considers the advantages of both surgery categorization and newsvendor model to surgery scheduling.
  
  
  METHODS
  The research was carried out in a Finnish orthopaedic specialist centre that performs only joint replacement surgery. Four surgery categorization scenarios were defined and their productivity analyzed by simulation and newsvendor model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Detailed analyses of surgery durations and the use of more accurate case categories and their combinations in scheduling improved OR productivity 11.3 percent when compared to the base case. Planning to have one OR team to work longer led to remarkable decrease in scheduling inefficiency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In surgical services, productivity and cost-efficiency can be improved by utilizing historical data in case scheduling and by increasing flexibility in personnel management.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study increases the understanding of practical scheduling methods used to improve efficiency in surgical services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Management, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland. juha-matti.2.lehtonen@tut.fi
authors.forename: Juha-Matti
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lehtonen
authors.forename: Paulus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Torkki
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peltokorpi
authors.forename: Teemu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moilanen
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014850:Waiting Lists