Surgeon-Specific Computer to Improve Operating Room Flow: A Controlled Clinical Trial

Area of Science:

• Surgical Workflow Optimization
• Health Informatics
• Operating Room Efficiency

Background:

• Postoperative documentation delays disrupt operating room (OR) efficiency and patient care continuity.
• Surgeons leaving the OR for computer access cause workflow interruptions.
• Current systems present challenges to timely surgical documentation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess if an additional surgeon-dedicated workstation in the OR improves postoperative documentation and order completion times.
• To evaluate the impact on adverse events and gather surgeon feedback.
• To determine the efficiency gains from dedicated OR workstations.

Main Methods:

• Prospective controlled clinical trial comparing ORs with and without additional surgeon workstations.
• Inclusion of consecutive elective and urgent general surgery cases involving residents.
• Comparison of median times for postoperative note (PN) and order (PO) completion using multivariable linear regression.

Main Results:

• Median PN completion time reduced from 10 to 7 minutes (P=0.02) and PO completion time from 14 to 9 minutes (P<0.001) with the dedicated workstation.
• The workstation independently reduced PN and PO completion times by 54% and 83%, respectively.
• No adverse postoperative events were recorded; resident surveys showed unanimous agreement on improved workflow and patient care.

Conclusions:

• Surgeon-dedicated OR workstations significantly decrease postoperative documentation and order completion times.
• This intervention enhances surgical workflow efficiency without increasing adverse events.
• Implementation offers a cost-effective, scalable solution for improving surgical efficiency.