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Category Archives: surgeon
The effects of late surgeons on other surgeons, overtime, Pre-Op, PACU, and patient waiting…
SHS2013 poster presentations supported supports #161 “Clarifying the Definition, Purpose, and Effects of OR On-time Starts“ supports #113 “Resolving Resistance to OR scheduling changes; Implementing a Multi-faceted Model“ also see Getting Dr. Able out of the OR before 4pm… | ORTimes … Continue reading
Posted in Ambulatory Surgical Center, anesthesiologist, ASC, scheduling, similation, surgeon
Tagged Ambulatory Surgical Center, ASC, OR scheduling, PACU, preOP, surgical case
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Strategy: Graphic examples of Orthopedic cases using PAs, Flipping Rooms, and Early Starts
The necessary clinical experience and scheduling backend to implement these strategies is assumed. For comparison, two surgeons doing similar cases are used: Dr. Schlicter is flipping between two rooms which for visualization purposes are grouped together into the blue horizontal band … Continue reading
Posted in concept graph, orthopedics, simulation, surgeon, Uncategorized
Tagged CEO, COO, healthcare systems engineering, OR throughput, othopedics, throughput
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bad research…or bad reporting?
This is an example of the perils (morbidity, mortality, and financial) of mathematical manipulation of data by researchers in basing broad conclusions without more fully understanding the processes and externalities involved: Unnecessary anesthesia adds $1B to health spending – FierceHealthcare … Continue reading
Posted in Accounting, Ambulatory Surgical Center, anesthesiologist, ASC, board of directors, CEO, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, OR scheduling, OR throughput, risk, risk management, scheduling
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increase strategy to increase throughput: …data in context…lean in context…flipped rooms…
Why is this important? It can significantly increase total throughput and throughput as referenced by a particular agent (surgeon, anesthesiologist, hospital). Increased throughput can be converted into large increases in revenue. It can decrease cost for all agents. It can … Continue reading
Posted in Ambulatory Surgical Center, anesthesiologist, ASC, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, CEO, COO, OR scheduling, room flipping, scheduling, surgeon
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FTE, utilization, and cost accounting … when PUNs equal CUEs
also see: Graph of CRNA usage for optimized Surgeon Schedule also see: TA(throughput accounting) and TDABC (time driven activity based costing)….the fabric, the ‘warp and woof’ of healthcare — Cost accounting (whether standard costing or TDABC) is based on the concept … Continue reading
Posted in Ambulatory Surgical Center, anesthesiologist, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon, Uncategorized
Tagged anesthesiology, cfo, COO, cost accounting, FTE, full time employee
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‘risk vs return’ or ‘when the shit hits the fan’ in the OR
Taken from a Linkedin post of mine with the HFMA group: Sandra, The ‘general’ rule is that ASA 1-3 is ok for free standing facilities. That rule is effectively bent for rational reasons. The ASA classification has a lot of … Continue reading
OR scheduling concept map (concept diagram)…
A few years ago I diagrammed several concepts involved in scheduling an OR onto this graph. The intent was to take advantage (or nullify disadvantages) of characteristics of individual surgeons and anesthetists. The interplay of these concepts and individual factors … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, concept graph, concept map, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, concept graph, concept map, COO, OR, scheduling, surgery
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the dark side of hospital patient flow… Part 1
Flow is defined as the quantity of some item (units of an item) passing by, leaving, or arriving at some point in a designated unit of time. So, flow is defined by four parameters: units(1) of an item(1) , a … Continue reading
Posted in board of directors, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged CEO, cfo, COO, hospital patient flow
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putting it all together…intra-case and inter-case….TOT and more
There are a thousand variations of the following examples, but I hope these four graphs will get across some ideas. For potential economic effects, see: Wasting $2.7 million dollars a year. Each of the following graphs has 5 bars. Each … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, board of directors, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon, Uncategorized
Tagged anesthesia, scheduling, surgeon, toc, TOT
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things you’ll probably never see…
Turnover Time (TOT) does not have an ideal value of zero. When you finally learn how to make it zero (or negative) you’ll discover the idiosyncrasies of your surgeon. If fact, you will have achieved the proper TOT for your … Continue reading
absolute loss of time…
In medicine, almost nothing is absolute. Absolutes are strictly enforced, unless the person who decided that it was an absolute changes his mind. In the narrow world of OR throughput, this is an important factor why surgeons (and anesthesiologists) should … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged decision algorithm, OR, surgeon
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clinical resolution of systems engineering scheduling in the OR…
No new graphs today… Let’s discuss the resolution of a systems engineer in improving turnover time (TOT). In the last few blogs I showed the difference in TOT due solely to who sees the patient in the pre-op holding area, … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesiology, CEO, COO, healthcare systems analysis, nurses, scheduling, surgeon, surgery
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coffee and donuts…. time for a break
Oh what fun… This is just one of many factors affecting turnover time (TOT). For the sake of smaller graphs and clarity, I’m showing only the times till anesthesia induces the patient to show the comparison of … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesiology, OR, scheduling, theory of constraints
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difficulties with start times and TOT in the OR…
The following are excerpts from a discussion concerning Turn-Around-Time (TOT) in the OR. They relate to my recent posts on scheduling, and show the complexity/difficulty in defining the problems and solving them: ____ she: There are benchmarks out in the … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, decisio, OR, scheduling, surgical case
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micro real options in the OR…
One advantage of performing virtually identical cases—such as specialty ORs (cataract surgery would be an example) is that the room setup is virtually identical and a great deal of time can be saved (or avoided) by being able to put … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged COO, finance, OR, schedule, scheduling
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TOC in the OR visualized…
Ah…. theory of constraints… This is a visual representation to help with handling constraints in the OR. For those who use TOC, be aware that the person represented by the green bar (‘Anes MD presence’) could be simultaneously supervising four … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, anesthesiologist, COO, risk management, surgery, theory of constraints, toc
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Big Bwana and little bwana…
Everything in the below graph is adjustable (and is derived from less data than is normally collected in an OR). It’s quite useful when deciding how to create your portfolio of surgeons, anesthesiologists, or nurses to limit the short-comings, and … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, board of directors, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, COO, finance, healthcare reform, healthcare systems analysis, OR, surgery, surgical case
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the surgeon as a constraint…
This graph shows components of surgical time during a typical surgical case: red bar: primary surgeon needs to be present and is present top yellow bar: surgeon needs to be present, but isn’t–he’s late and everyone is waiting … Continue reading
Posted in healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged constraints, COO, healthcare reform, healthcare systems analysis, scheduling, surgeon
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divide and concur….
Once you visually see the requirements for anesthesia presence during a case, you can also see the potential for saving down-time and better utilizing particular skills when personnel are scarce. I did leave out the pre-op visit in this … Continue reading
the cost of late surgeons… and the revenue from early surgeons
The purple bars represent the time saved for nursing staff and anesthesia if there is a policy for the surgeon to be ready to cut 30 minutes (adjustable) before the scheduled start of cases in the morning. The effects of … Continue reading
Typical OR case dissected with details…
These are the relevant milestones and intervals in a typical OR case. I left off the details so as not to detract from the comparison to the normal representation of an OR case as a single block of time with … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, board of directors, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, CEO, COO, healthcare reform, healthcare systems analysis, scheduling, surgery
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So much data…so little time
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged COO, healthcare reform, healthcare systems analysis, surgery, surgical case
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Visual analytics for an OR case…
Visual analytics for an OR case: Lots of information if you understand the code…. You can tell whether surgery, anesthesia, or the hospital personnel are on top of things and you can compare differences in techniques with resulting effects … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, COO, OR, surgeon, surgery, surgical case
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new scheduler…timeline and map integration
Operating rooms are expensive assets; you don’t want them sitting idle when people need them. Each room may be equipped differently; you want to schedule procedures in the most appropriate room. To complicate matters, some procedures require special equipment that … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, CEO, COO, scheduling, surgery
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non-expert decison making: perils of democracy…
When making an individual decision, or whether voting as a group, the ‘strength’ of one’s conviction on a topic should be modified by one’s expertise before coming to a final resolution. All decisions have pros and cons, all of different … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, healthcare reform, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, CEO, COO, CRNA, decision algorithm, surgeon
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new OR scheduler…
I’ve been experimenting with a new scheduler. There are many options for visually representing information about OR cases. The scheduler is easily adapted for collecting data to analyze later. The scheduler also has a map view that can include even … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, COO, scheduling, surgery
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sample new OR scheduler
For all those OR schedulers out there, here’s a new approach. I left most of the data off on purpose to emphasize the information that the graphics—lines, blocks, fonts, colors, sizes, and proximity— can show. When in the program, pages … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, COO, finance, schedule, scheduling, surge, throughput
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hold the mayo…
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my poster presentation at the Mayo Clinic’s 3rd Annual Healthcare Systems Engineering meeting. However, I did take a picture as I was putting it together the week before. Here it is, in … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, COO, scheduling, surgeon
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business interest…
When we started this blog, we didn’t know how well it would be received. Even though there were few comments, we could follow how many viewers had dropped by to have a look and download our graphs and articles. We … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, healthcare reform, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged CEO, COO, healthcare reform
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Protected: theory, tools, and techniques… abstract
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Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesiologist, CEO, COO, finance, surgeon, throughput
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Conflict of interests for surgeons?…
I’ve seen this potential for abuse over the years. It’s probably just jealousy on my part… we get donuts from the reps, some of the surgeons get all expense paid trips to exotic (well, sometimes exotic) locations. There may be … Continue reading
Posted in CEO, healthcare reform, surgeon
Tagged CEO, finance, healthcare reform, surgeon
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OR throughput, flipping rooms with fast and slow anesthesia…
I found some graphs that I put together a couple of years ago. The results are born out empirically (at least by my experience in the OR). Lots of information about who to hire, who to fire, who to … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, COO, scheduling, surgeon
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only the beginning…
In my last year of anesthesia residency, an attending told the graduating class “You’re just beginning. We hope we’ve taught you enough so that you won’t kill anyone.” A surgical friend of mine said that he was very good technically … Continue reading
Disruptive behavior… zero tolerance by Joint Commission; Is your hospital in compliance?
Physician and nurse executives team up to fight disruptive behavior The American College of Physician Executives and the American Organization of Nurse Executives are joining forces to stamp out disruptive behavior. The two organizations are providing resources and guidance to … Continue reading
mathematician, technician, or healthcare professional…
There are different tools for evaluating what has been done and what should be done. Confuse the two at your own risk. The finance industry caused significant damage to the world economy because they confused the two. Given any set … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, healthcare reform, surgeon
Tagged anesthesiologist, CEO, COO, surgeon
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How to Tell the Productive Surgeons from the non-Productive
The previous blogs were concerned with economic gains for the different parties (surgeon, anesthesia, hospital) by optimizing the relationship each case had with another case (inter-case) — the OR schedule. Each OR is dramatically different, and what works for one … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, CEO, linkedin, risk management, schedule, scheduling, surgeon
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communication…life line
With today’s technologies, there are multiple ways for anesthesiologists and surgeons to keep organized and transfer documents while driving in the city, roaming the halls of the hospital, or during a case in the OR. No one should have to … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesia, anesthesiologist, schedule, scheduling, surgeon
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Protected: the fungible anesthetist…
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Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesiologist, CEO, COO, schedule, scheduling, surgeon
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Can I trust my state medicaid and medicare system?
Missouri, one of only 3 states to receive an “A” in management information by Governing Magazine in 2008 is highlighted in the following article. If Missouri is in the top 3, how can we trust the rest? Best to have … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, surgeon
Tagged administration, anesthesiologist, CEO, finance, surgeon
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Graphs of Actual and Optimized Surgical Schedule
Warning! Not for the graphically challenged. In reference to the graphs I posted on January 14, 2010, I’ve added several graphs with detailed information. The first graph is of the actual room schedule (non-optimized) before optimizing it by a better … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesiologist, CEO, COO, linkedin, schedule, scheduling, surgeon
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I love my work, but…
As a follow-up from my post on Jan 14, 2010 “Are you wasting your surgeons’ time?” showing how surgeons can decrease their time in the OR, here’s a recent article from the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research and Department … Continue reading
Posted in CEO, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged CEO, dissatisfaction, satisfaction, schedule, scheduling, surgeon
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Who’s in charge here, anyway?
A big problem in the OR is that not everyone is working for the same goal. The major players are surgeons, anesthesiologists, and the hospital (nurses, orderlies, administrators, etc.), each wanting to maximize their income and minimize their work and … Continue reading
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Tagged anesthesiologist, CEO, schedule, scheduling, surgeon
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With whom should I do my cases?
<click on the above graph for a larger image> The above graph is an example of finished data analysis for three different orthopedic groups (Arizona Cutters, ORO Pods, Tucson Bones) which are deciding in which hospital, and with which anesthesia … Continue reading
Posted in anesthesiologist, CEO, scheduling, surgeon
Tagged anesthesiologist, CEO, finance, linkedin, schedule, scheduling, surgeon
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ORTimes 