A perioperative patient acuity system: planning and design.

Moving Perioperative Services into the future requires more than the analysis and improvement of work processes and demonstrated cost-containment. The standard verbiage driving such changes-productivity, quality, turnover times, cost per case, staffing levels-remains the focus of discussion in the literature. In addition, meeting future needs requires combining these quantitative measures with patient acuity, staff competency and technology. The financial demands of managed care, justification of staffing levels, competency of staff doing patient care, increased surgical equipment complexities and higher patient acuity have driven the need for a defined measurement system for patient acuity. The Patient Acuity System (PAS) in the Perioperative Services at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas is being designed to address the complexity of these needs.