Leveraging Real-world Data to Increase Procedure Room Capacity: A Multidisciplinary Quality Improvement Project

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Operations
• Clinical Process Improvement
• Pediatric Gastroenterology

Background:

• Healthcare systems face financial strain, resource limitations, and case backlogs, necessitating optimized operating room efficiency.
• Improving efficiency in high-volume procedural suites is crucial for maximizing capacity and patient throughput.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a data-driven protocol to enhance efficiency in a pediatric gastrointestinal (GI) suite.
• To identify and leverage expert clinician practices to create standardized clinical protocols.

Main Methods:

• Utilized electronic medical records to extract key process measures, including on-time starts and postanesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay.
• Employed Statistical Process Control (SPC) charts for data visualization and clinician performance stratification.
• Implemented daily feedback loops using updated SPC charts and facilitated plan-do-check-act (PDCA) improvement cycles.

Main Results:

• Procedure volume increased by approximately 25% over two years despite external challenges.
• On-time starts improved by 36%, and turnover time decreased by 34%.
• Postanesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay decreased by 15%, with a potential for $2 million in annual revenue increase.

Conclusions:

• A multidisciplinary team successfully enhanced efficiency metrics in a pediatric GI suite through a data-driven approach.
• Continuous access to real-world data via SPC charts facilitated effective PDCA cycles and sustained team motivation.
• The implemented protocol demonstrated measurable improvements in efficiency, capacity, and financial performance.