Improving the operating room to increase revenues

Hospitals often overlook the potential to increase revenues by improving operating rooms and attracting additional surgery. Administrators should respond to surgeons' dissatisfaction with services despite limitations and ambiguities imposed by the surgical suite's chain of command. Directors of surgery can overcome formal authority problems by establishing informal relationships with the chiefs of surgery and anesthesia. Monthly reports to administration on quality and performance standards can avoid difficulties and prompt timely solutions. Satisfied surgeons will increase admissions by directing elective surgery patients to the hospital. Administrators can conduct interviews with all surgical personnel or use questionnaires to identify problems, potential new surgeons, and suggestions for improvement. Other tasks are to analyze each surgical section's functions, accumulate data by specialty and surgeon to plan daily schedules, evaluate organization and staffing, and evaluate instrumentation and supplies. Block scheduling and surgical acuity systems help establish controls in these areas. Feedback systems ensure that personnel remain sensitive to surgeons' needs. A nurse should be assigned to each surgeon to communicate information about patients, and surgeons should be encouraged to complete forms after each surgery to identify deficiencies in procedures. Other incentives for surgeons include favorable OR scheduling arrangements, purchase of special equipment, and package pricing for certain procedures.