Economics & Sociology

Background: Improving clinical pathways, especially in operating rooms (OR), is important for the success of a hospital. Objectives: (a) To analyze time-related perioperative pathways; (b) to identify delays focusing on (i) anaesthesiological process-times, (ii) vacancy of the OR and (iii) the validity of the surgery-planning. Methods: A time study was conducted to assess perioperative processes. Accurateness, variation and duration of surgeries were assessed using hospitals schedule for surgeries. Results: 239 perioperative processes were assessed. Average durations of pre-operative, operative and post-operative processes were 7min, 64min and 8min, respectively. Mean time in which the patient was unnecessarily anesthetized was 2min. Average vacancy of the OR was 48min. Stability of schedule valued 78%. Average cutting time was 23 min after schedule. 77% of surgeries were more time-consuming than scheduled. Conclusions: The key challenge is to optimize the schedule stability and the precision of durations, which is important to prevent vacancies.