Operating Room Management: Approaching the Performance Frontier

An integral term to the study of operating room (OR) management is "efficiency." Early work by OR efficiency researchers assumed that perioperative services could achieve optimum performance, similar to a factory's assembly line. Using a myriad of OR management metrics, administrators and clinical directors attempt to drive operational performance and generate higher revenue as each measurement improves. There is an assumption that the perioperative services are predictable. However, perioperative services display characteristics of Complex Adaptive Systems. In this article, we review the different methods of tracking OR efficiency and apply Performance Frontiers to OR management data to visualize efficiency.