Operating Room Efficiency: Examining the Impact of Personnel Handoffs

This study aimed to determine if personnel handoffs or number of learners in the operating room (OR) are associated with longer OR times in women having pelvic organ prolapse surgery.

A retrospective review of women undergoing prolapse surgery in 2016 was conducted. Demographics; procedure; OR, anesthetic, and surgical time; number of handoffs between anesthesia members, circulators, and surgical technologies; and number of learners were abstracted.

One hundred forty-eight women underwent pelvic organ prolapse surgery. Mean age was 54 ± 14 years, and most women were healthy and white. Procedures performed were as follows: 31% laparoscopic sacrocolpoexies (LASCs), 28% robotic sacrocolpopexies (RASCs), 19% colpocleises, and 22% native tissue reconstructions. For minimally invasive sacrocolpopexies (LASC + RASC), mean OR time was 270 ± 65 minutes. Median anesthesia, surgical technology, and circulator handoffs for sacrocolpopexies were 2 (interquartile range, 0-4), 1 (0-3), and 2 (2-6). Median number of learners in the OR for sacrocolpopexies was 4 (interquartile range, 1-7). Patient comorbidities and American Society of Anesthesiologists class were not associated with longer OR times (P = 0.9 and P = 0.4). Longer OR times were positively correlated with increasing numbers of anesthesia, surgical technology, and circulator handoffs, but not with the number of learners (Spearman ρ = 0.34, P = 0.001; ρ = 0.34, P < 0.001; ρ = 0.59, P < 0.001, and ρ = 0.16, P = 0.43). For LASC, every technology handoff was associated with 23 additional minutes of OR time (P = 0.004). For RASC, every technology handoff was associated with 31 additional minutes of OR time (P = 0.007), and each circulator handoff was associated with 15 additional minutes (P = 0.05).

Handoffs between OR personnel are associated with longer OR times, independent of patient factors.