A Surgeon Badge or Text Message Sign-in Intervention Improves Operating Room Start Efficiency.

BACKGROUND

Operating room (OR) efficiency, often measured by first case on-time start (FCOTS) percentage, is an important driver of perioperative team morale and the financial success of a hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this quasi-experimental study of elective surgical procedures at a single tertiary academic hospital, an intervention requiring attending surgeon attestation of availability via SMS text message or identification badge swipe was implemented. Key measures of OR efficiency were compared before and after the change.

RESULTS

FCOTS percentage increased from 61.6% to 66.9% after the intervention (P = 0.01). After adjusting for patient and procedural characteristics, postintervention period remained associated with an increased odds of an on-time start (odds ratio 1.29, P = 0.01). Additionally, procedural start times from the pre- to postintervention period were significantly improved (-0.08 min/day, P = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of an attending surgeon text or badge sign-in process was associated with improved FCOTS percentage and earlier procedure start times.