Improving Operating Room Efficiency: Relocating a Surgical Oncology Program Within a Health Care System.

Area of Science:

• Surgical Oncology
• Hospital Administration
• Healthcare Operations

Background:

• Established surgical oncology program expansion required relocation to an oncology-naive hospital.
• The program included gynecologic oncology, surgical oncology, and otolaryngologic oncology services.
• Strategic planning and stakeholder involvement were crucial for the transition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the strategy and approach for relocating a surgical oncology program.
• To evaluate operating room efficiency and physician satisfaction post-relocation.
• To analyze key performance indicators of surgical workflow.

Main Methods:

• A 2-year systematic plan preceded the move, involving multiple workgroups.
• Prospective data (6 weeks) and retrospective data (8 weeks) were compared.
• Key variables included surgical case times, on-time starts, and physician satisfaction surveys.

Main Results:

• Overall case end to case start times decreased nonsignificantly post-move.
• First case on-time starts initially dipped but returned to baseline.
• Physician satisfaction was high for logistics but lower for instrumentation.

Conclusions:

• Relocating surgical oncology services to an oncology-naive hospital was successful.
• The transition maintained operating room efficiency and physician satisfaction.
• Transparency, communication, and problem-solving were key to success.