Volume 26 • No. 7
Efforts to boost OR efficiency are starting to pay off
Steps under way to improve OR efficiency
Profile: Andrew Newman (scuba diver/pulmonologist)
Completion of cancer center expected in late fall 2003
Device tested at Stanford may improve breast cancer diagnosis and treatment
PAST ISSUES
Those working to boost OR efficiency know their mission is a challenging one, given the many complex factors involved - such as complications arising during surgery.
Efforts to boost OR efficiency are starting to pay off
Soon after becoming medical director of operating room services at Stanford Hospital last November, Richard Whyte walked the halls of the OR one morning at 7:30 when the day's first operations were scheduled to begin
What he saw hinted at the challenges that lay ahead as he embarked on an effort to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of OR services: Only half the rooms had patients in them. That meant half of the morning's first cases would start late, which would delay many of the day's subsequent scheduled operations, which would ultimately mean lost time, lost money, dissatisfied patients and frustrated doctors.
