Continuous interprofessional coordination in perioperative work: an exploratory study.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Surgical Workflow Optimization
• Human Factors in Medicine

Background:

• Perioperative care coordination remains a significant challenge despite advancements in medical technology.
• Existing care coordination methods often struggle to keep pace with complex diagnostic and therapeutic innovations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the nature of continuous coordination among perioperative staff.
• To understand how staff proactively manage their activities in relation to colleagues' work.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study employing in-depth interviews (n=14) and combined observations with focused interviews (n=31).
• Data collected from physicians, nurses, technicians, and cleaners at a Norwegian university hospital.
• Analysis utilized systematic text condensation for qualitative data interpretation.

Main Results:

• Surgical schedules are crucial for task assignment, while ad hoc communication ensures activity timeliness.
• Limited flexibility exists for adjusting activities based solely on schedules and immediate communication.
• Staff proactively predict future needs by environmental observation, software monitoring, and information sharing.

Conclusions:

• Current coordination relies heavily on schedules and direct communication, leaving room for proactive strategies.
• Understanding staff's predictive coordination methods can inform the development of better support systems.
• Enhanced support for perioperative coordination can improve overall workflow efficiency and patient care.