6. Don't let surgeons dawdle. Of course the impact would
have been negligible if surgeons had failed to take advantage of the
shortened turnover time. "Our surgeons used to migrate after a case
and go sit in the physicians' lounge and watch TV, or go upstairs and
do rounds with other patients," says Mr. Higgins. "We had to make
them understand that if we were going to work on streamlining our
turnover time, we needed them to be invested and back and ready to
go, as well."
The selling point was to remind them that the quicker they get
through their surgeries for the day, the quicker they could go home to
their families or back to the office, or whatever else they needed to
do. The result: Surgeon turnover time, measured from the time sur-
geons leave the OR — where PAs or nurse practitioners might finish
closing — to the time they make their next incision was clipped from
75 minutes to 46.
Happier patients
In addition to slowing
patient throughput,
the hospital found
that redundancies
were annoying
patients, who felt they
weren't being heard
because they were
being asked the same
questions over and
over again. Now the
admissions clerk asks
a series of questions
and makes sure the
1 2 4
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | February 2015
(800) 924.4655
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MTI's new 440 Mobile Quad Battery-powered
Stretcher Bed is ideal for the safe, rapid and stable
transportation of patients from pre-op to surgery
and recovery. With this model you will also get
superior patient accessibility, a revolutionary
lightweight lithium ion battery.
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