Manual record-keeping and statistical records for the operating room

Surveys have shown that handwritten anesthesia and circulating records kept in hospital operating rooms may be inadequately maintained and analyzed. Online, fully automated data processing techniques have been applied to reduce the anesthesiologist's recordkeeping workload, but with limited receptivity. An off-line data processing system has been developed using handwritten records to provide both anesthesia and operating room utilization statistics. Evaluation of the system indicates that an online, semiautomated approach applied only to charting vital signs and recording utilization statistics is an appropriate one for future development.