Strategic automation for surgery.

Recent advances in automated systems for surgical department management include enhancements in management methodology and improved economics of the surgical suites. Requirements of accountability legislation have stimulated development of a new generation of highly efficient software applicable to the surgical suite. These include surgical scheduling, preference lists in picking order, materials management, surgically related data and statistics, deployment of personnel and assignment of facilities. With recent advances in computer hardware and the availability of applicable software, the return on investment of these systems makes them affordable. Strategic surgical software can improve productivity, accuracy, efficiency of service and quality control while enhancing revenues to a surgical department.