Decreases in anesthesia-controlled time cannot permit one additional surgical operation to be reliably scheduled during the workday

F Dexter; S Coffin; J H Tinker

doi:10.1097/00000539-199512000-00024

Back

Decreases in anesthesia-controlled time cannot permit one additional surgical operation to be reliably scheduled during the workday

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Decreases in anesthesia-controlled time cannot permit one additional surgical operation to be reliably scheduled during the workday

F Dexter, S Coffin and J H Tinker

Anesthesia and analgesia, Vol.81(6), pp.1263-1268

12/1995

DOI: 10.1097/00000539-199512000-00024

PMID: 7486114

View Online

Abstract

We tested whether anesthesiologists can decrease operating room (OR) costs by working more quickly. Anesthesia-controlled time (ACT) was defined as the sum of 1) the time starting when the patient enters an OR until preparation or surgical positioning can begin plus 2) the time starting when the dressing is finished and ending when the patient leaves the OR. Case time was defined as the time starting when one patient undergoing an operation leaves an OR and ending when the next patient undergoing the same operation leaves the OR. An actual case series was constructed of 709 consecutive patients who underwent one of 11 elective operations at a tertiary care center. Statistical analysis of measured OR times showed that ACt would have to be decreased by more than 100% to permit one additional scheduled, short (30-min) operation to be performed in an OR during an 8-h workday after a prior series of cases, each lasting more than 45 min. Anesthesiologists alone cannot reasonably decrease case times sufficiently to permit one extra case to be reliably scheduled during a workday. Methods to decrease ACT (e.g., using preoperative intravenous catheter teams, procedure rooms, and/or shorter acting drugs) may simply increase costs.

Time and Motion Studies

Hospital Costs

Operating Rooms - economics

Operating Rooms - organization & administration

Anesthesia, General - economics

Bandages

Humans

Information Systems

Anesthesiology - economics

Surgical Procedures, Operative - statistics & numerical data

Anesthesiology - organization & administration

Forecasting

Anesthesiology - statistics & numerical data

Workload - statistics & numerical data

Operating Rooms - statistics & numerical data

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures

Surgical Procedures, Operative - economics

Anesthesia, General - statistics & numerical data

Appointments and Schedules

Elective Surgical Procedures

Details

Title: Subtitle: Decreases in anesthesia-controlled time cannot permit one additional surgical operation to be reliably scheduled during the workday
Creators: F Dexter - Department of Anesthesia, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA
S Coffin
J H Tinker
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Anesthesia and analgesia, Vol.81(6), pp.1263-1268
Publisher: United States
DOI: 10.1097/00000539-199512000-00024
PMID: 7486114
ISSN: 0003-2999
eISSN: 1526-7598
Language: English
Date published: 12/1995
Academic Unit: Health Management and Policy; Anesthesia
Record Identifier: 9983806290602771

Metrics

36 Record Views

156 Times Cited - Web of Science

Decreases in anesthesia-controlled time cannot permit one additional surgical operation to be reliably scheduled during the workday

View Online

Related content

Abstract

Details

Metrics