Operating room (OR) staff can significantly improve patient throughput and quality of care by using the tools of operations management and variability methodology. Because the OR is a primary source of admissions, it is virtually impossible to streamline hospital-wide flow without first streamlining patient flow through the OR. The American Hospital Association Quality Center recommends “smoothing the artificial variability of elective admissions” as the critical first step in improving hospital-wide cost and quality performance. Smoothing patient flow in the OR will help eliminate ambulance diversions, reduce overcrowding in the emergency department (ED), decrease the number of patients who leave the ED without being seen, and improve staff morale.

IHI’s two-day seminar, Reengineering the Operating Room to Improve Hospital-Wide Efficiency and Quality, will demonstrate how to apply the tools of operations management and variability methodology to improve patient throughput, revenue, and quality of care. Leading this seminar is Eugene Litvak, PhD, one of the nation's foremost experts on hospital operations redesign. Dr. Litvak, along with other distinguished faculty with multiyear OR and hospital experience, will guide participants through a series of topics critical for efficient hospital operations. Faculty will present practical steps and tools for managing variability to improve patient access to care, increase surgical volume, reduce waiting times for emergent and urgent surgeries, and reduce OR overtime.  For example, as stated in a recent article in the Boston Globe, “Cincinnati Children's Hospital estimates efficiency measures will allow the hospital to generate an additional $137m in revenue this year from treating more children with the same staffing levels.” Other examples are outlined in a soon-to-be-published book, Managing Patient Flow in Hospitals, by Dr. Litvak and colleagues who serve as faculty for this program. 

The program will also feature case studies from Dr. Litvak’s work at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In 2003, for example, BMC leveraged operations management tools and techniques in the OR to:

• Reduce variability in admissions to step-down beds by 55 percent 
• Decrease nursing hours per patient day, allowing the nursing manager to work within her budget
• Reduce the unit’s nursing costs by $130,000 annually
• Decrease the overall number of postponed surgeries by 99.5 percent, while the volume of emergent and urgent surgeries stayed the same