Operating room boosts turnover efficiency through Lean practices

Much of the most time-consuming work conducted in operating rooms occurs not during the actual procedure, but in the turnover period from one surgical case to the next. This problem is even more evident in smaller clinics, where the number of available rooms is limited and thus the changeover is necessary between cases.

Fortunately, turnover efficiency is something that can be improved through Lean healthcare practices. One operating room suite was able to bolster efficiency through Lean, resulting in better patient care, greater physician satisfaction and more operating room capacity without hiring additional staff.

According to a case study from Healthcare Performance Partners (HPP), the improved performance started with the creation of a “value stream” analysis of the turnover process. The map discovered a complete lack of standardization in the tasks performed and also the items used for an efficient operation. In addition to these issues, there was a lot of waste that hindered the hospital from acting in a responsive and flexible way to the needs of both patients and physicians.

“The staff streamlined the work process by identifying and moving work steps that had been internal to the O.R. changeover process and made these work steps external to the changeover,” HPP explains. “Certain operational activities were divided between multiple workers, allowing Pre and Post Operative functions to be performed simultaneously.”

Other steps, such as color coding, were used to bring additional clarity to the situation. The end goal was to allow for greater standardization of the operating changeover process, and Lean helped the hospital achieve that objective. In the end, the Lean transformation took a four-day Kaizen event and three days dedicated to training. Overall, the operating room was able to reduce time spent on the turnover process by 46 percent.

Using Lean healthcare

It's no secret that the healthcare industry is facing some major challenges – an influx of new patients due to the Affordable Healthcare Act, the integration of new technology to meet meaningful use requirements and the switchover to ICD-10 coding. These processes will all affect practices workflow and revenue income.

Lean healthcare is one tool that physicians can use to improve operations without involving additional resources. When workflow is becoming complicated and revenue streams are growing tighter, Lean healthcare offers a unique solution by enabling physicians to improve through the reduction of waste and greater efficiency.