Abstract
Introduction: The operation theatre complex of a hospital represents an area of considerable spending in a hospital budget and requires utmost utilization to guarantee optimum cost benefit. Operating room (OR) functions with a lot of resources. Thus, any form of inappropriate functioning will cause revenue loss as well as decreased quality of patient care and satisfaction. Any delaying the operation theatre detrimental to the image and overall functioning of the hospital and any ways to reduce the delays are key to improve patient care and to maximize consumption of the resources in the operating room.
Objective: To determine OR utilization and efficiency in the OT complex.
Methodology: A prospective study was done from 1st May 2019 to 15th May 2019 in the OT complex of a 750 bedded Multispeciality Hospital in Mumbai, India . OT utilization and efficiency over a time period of two months was studied with respect to number of operation theaters, working hours in that particular study period, OR working capacity, Utilized hours.
Results: Collected data showed that ORs were serviceable for 52 days through the study period and in that period 726 cases were operated. Total OR utilization time was 1820 hours for the study period. Collected data showed that in a two month period from 1st May 2019 to 30th June 2019 there was the highest utility of 58% (OR 2) whereas there was the lowest utility of 27 % (OR 3) in the 5th floor OT complex. However considering the entire 5th floor OT complex, actual utilized OT hours were only 655 out of the available 1820 hours during the study period. Thus a utility of 36% only was seen.
Conclusion: Integrated time management and time utilization will result in a cost reduction, increase in hospital revenues with improved quality and patient satisfaction. Improving the performance of operating theatres is key to achieving shorter waiting times for treatment, implementing booking of elective operations and reducing cancelled operations. Change can only be implemented successfully if employees are fully engaged in the change process and are able and willing to make the changes required. Subjects: Science and Medical Education, Human Resources, Statistics
Keywords: Operation theater utilization, OT cancellations, OT efficiency