[Process management in surgery]

Process management is defined as the concept of identifying processes in a company or healthcare organization, analyzing them and improving productivity and efficiency. In hospitals, process management focuses on patient safety, an increase in economic resources and employee satisfaction. The integration of process management into clinical pathways helps to accelerate workflows and to improve the quality of patient service. The different types of process management encompass the radical concept of process renewal (revolutionary renewal) as well as the concept of evolutionary optimization. Process management in surgery is applied to preoperative, perioperative and postoperative procedures. The development and implementation of evidence-based treatment pathways can help to standardize and structure treatment processes in a surgical department. In this context, the operating room (OR) plays a particularly central role as the most important part of the healthcare provision of perioperative services. Process management is indispensable for the utilization of an optimal OR capacity taking a maximum patient safety and the desired optimal satisfaction of employees into account. The benefits of process management in the OR area are illustrated in an exemplary case study, demonstrating how innovative process management results in an increase of the operation capacity with a simultaneous reduction in costs.