Hospitals and Health Systems Improve Utilization 20% & Surgical Volume 25% with Cultural Transformative Tactics

CHICAGO, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Addressing cultural friction within operating rooms has emerged as a critical imperative for healthcare institutions nationwide. Surgical Directions sheds light on the detrimental effects of cultural discord, including high clinician and staff turnover, surgical case volume outmigration, and risks to patient care.

"Improving culture is necessary to deliver great surgical care...but you must play the 'long game'," says Leslie Basham, President, and CEO of Surgical Directions.

Drawing from more than 25 years of industry experience, Basham outlines four tactics proven to transform the culture of surgical service departments:

1. Establish a Collaborative Physician-run Governance Committee
   
   A proactive approach to cultural transformation involves empowering constituents to make collaborative decisions. By creating an Operationally Focused Surgical Services Executive Committee, co-chaired by a surgeon and an anesthesiologist, hospitals foster regular and constructive communication among key stakeholders.
   
   
2. Create a Fair and Transparent Surgeon Access System
   
   Implementing a Surgeon Access Subcommittee can help hospitals establish utilization targets and hold surgeons accountable to block policies. By analyzing scheduling patterns and ensuring predictability, institutions can enhance the surgeon and nursing experience while optimizing resources.
   
   
3. Sustain Process Efficiency
   
   Efforts to enhance process efficiency lay the groundwork for cultural change. Multi-disciplinary performance improvement teams focus on central sterile processing, materials management, and OR throughput, driving improvements in patient access, resource utilization, and staff retention.
   
   
4. Elevate OR Performance With Digital Innovation
   
   Fully embracing a digital strategy, hospitals leverage predictive analytical tools like Merlin™ to optimize block scheduling, reallocate cases, and improve surgeon access. This digital transformation not only boosts OR efficiency but also contributes to significant surgical volume increases.

"Through these transformative tactics, hospitals can realize a 20% increase in prime-time utilization as well as a 25% jump in surgical volume with tools like Merlin," added Basham.

To read Leslie Basham's full comments on the subject visit Expert Insights at SurgicalDirections.com/Insights.

ABOUT SURGICAL DIRECTIONS 

Surgical Directions is a healthcare solutions company that helps health systems, provider groups and ASCs improve perioperative, procedural care and anesthesia services through consulting, technology, and leadership. We partner with organizations using peer-to-peer leadership, process expertise and predictive analytics to profitably grow their organizations. Our team of experienced practitioners and consultants tackles critical issues while achieving financial, operational, and clinical outcome excellence. Surgical Directions has successfully served 500 clients to increase patient access and, most importantly, improve patient care. Additional information is available at www.surgicaldirections.com.

SOURCE Surgical Directions