Hospitals continue to provide extremely important services to people all over the world. One service that you can receive from a hospital is surgery, which requires the use of a traditional operating room. Unfortunately, many hospitals are very booked and have limited surgical and operating room space. To help with this and free up as much capacity as possible, the use of operating room scheduling software is very beneficial. These software programs provide a range of benefits for hospitals and patients.
More Accurate Scheduling
As many surgeons and doctors affiliated with a hospital will operate out of an operating room, it can be difficult to schedule them all in when needed. Due to this, many hospitals have adopted a block scheduling system in which the surgeons will be appointed certain times that they have priority over the operating room. The way that the hours are allocated tends to be backwards looking and based on prior caseload. Unfortunately, this does not always give a great glimpse into what a doctor’s current demand really is. Due to this, it is common for one doctor to not have enough availability on the block and for another to have unused time and space.
When you use an OR scheduling software program, you will be able to create more accurate schedules. The schedules can be automated while taking blocks into consideration but also changing usage of the room if there are openings as the reservation date approaches. This can help to retain some consistency but also maximize space.
Prediction of Operating Time During Procedures
Another extremely important part of running an operating room is knowing how long to book a space for. You will want to ensure that you have booked the space long enough to allow for the procedure to be completed the right way, but you also do not want to waste valuable time by scheduling a procedure for too long. A scheduling program can help you predict more accurately how long a procedure will take based on a variety of factors including the type of procedure, patient risk factors, staff and other items that can affect the length of a procedure.
OR Space Preparation
Another way that your scheduling software can help to run and manage an OR is by having a schedule for space preparation. An operating room needs to be a very clean and sterile place. At the same time, it needs to be fully stocked with medical supplies that are used to care for a patient. Some hospitals may find that archaic scheduling programs can make it harder to have the rooms cleaned on time. With the use of the enhanced scheduling program, you will be able to more accurately identify when a room needs to be cleaned and prepped while ensuring you have dedicated the right personnel to handle it.
Schedule Accessibility
The traditional scheduling programs at hospitals would be completed on a large whiteboard that would require you to walk by in order to see what procedures were being handled when and where. While this has worked in the past to some degree, it is far from the best method. With an enhanced scheduling program, you can schedule any procedures that are needed while also ensuring that all people are able to see the schedule. Schedule handlers can then update the schedule as needed, which ensures all people are made aware of what their responsibilities are. This can help to keep the hospital running more efficiently and reduce stress.
An operating room is a very valuable part of any hospital. To ensure that the hospital is being run efficiently and in an organized fashion, using an operating room scheduling program is very important. These can help you to maximize the usage of an operating room, which can help you increase hospital revenue while also providing life-saving care to more patients.
