EHR Scheduling Aids Operating Room Scheduling Accuracy

WEDNESDAY, March 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The use of electronic health record (EHR) systems for predicting operation times improves operating room (OR) scheduling accuracy, according to a study published in the March/April issue of the Journal of Healthcare Management.

Mohamed Elsaqa, M.D., from the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple, Texas, and colleagues assessed the use of the EHR for OR scheduling and the impact of surgeon manipulations on OR time accuracy. OR time accuracy in the five months before the trial (4,243 operations) was compared to that in the trial period (4,578 operations).

The researchers found that the percentage of manipulation dropped from 19.8 to 7.6 percent, while scheduling accuracy rose from 41.7 to 47.9 percent. There was a significant reduction of underscheduling percentage (38.7 versus 31.7 percent) with no significant difference in the percentage of overscheduled cases (15 versus 17 percent). During the trial period, inaccurate OR hours were reduced by 18 percent (2,383 versus 1,954 hours).

“Reducing the manipulation of OR scheduling can improve scheduling accuracy, thus maximizing time usage, avoiding delays, and enhancing patient satisfaction,” the authors write. “Further studies of longer duration with generalization to all surgical specialties are required to fully validate the benefits.”

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