OPERATING ROOM


Surgical resiliency in surge and shortage


Managing OR and hospital scheduling, turnover and supplies in times of crisis and beyond by Ebony Smith


Photo credit: NicoElNino | stock.adobe.com O


ne thing is certain, the healthcare landscape constantly is revolving. In more “normal” times, operating rooms (ORs), emergency rooms (ERs) and hospitals may churn around the clock, scheduling patients and moving them in and out for the critical care they need. The ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic, however, propelled a new level of changes and complications in patient volumes, staffi ng, supplies, fl ow, and bottom lines in care. “Healthcare facilities are facing a backlog of elective sur- geries, less availability and rising costs of supplies, staffi ng shortages, and maintaining a safe environment during this pandemic,” addressed Gina Gilbert, Senior Director of Profes- sional Education & Clinical Affairs, Ansell. Scheduling procedures is a diffi culty in care, observes Shawn Sefton, MBA, BSN, RN, VP of Client Operations and CNO, Hospital IQ.


“A consistent theme I’ve heard from perioperative leaders is that many challenges arise from scheduling procedural cases and then creating an effi cient throughput process that optimizes both patient care and business objec- tives,” Sefton shared. “COVID has defi nitely increased these challenges and all perioperative services are impacted like other areas.” So, how else is the crisis affect- ing procedure scheduling, room turnover, and OR, elective surgery or hospital care? And what are the effects on patients, staff and facili- ties?


Patient volume shift During the pandemic, there has been a decline in the numbers of patients going to hospitals for care or procedures. “Volume is clearly down for 2020,” Sefton indicated. “Mandated cancel-


lations in the spring are the most signifi cant factor, but even with those restrictions lifted, caseloads in many areas haven’t returned to previous levels. You also have patients reluctant to come to the hospital, those that have lost their insurance cover- age, or those that test positive for COVID before the scheduled procedure, which causes a cancellation.”


Keerthi Kanubaddi, CEO, ReadySet Surgical, adds that as levels of patients in hospitals are lower, staff has been reduced and affected by the crisis.


“Even with the most recent COVID-19 surge, we are seeing that hospital volumes overall are still down by single digits, which have recovered slightly due to the massive infl u of COVID-19 patients,” he addressed. “Capacity of care is still a challenge, given that hospitals have laid off or furloughed staff to manage the signifi cant volume losses in 2020. isting staff are severely taed, and staff have been impacted by COID-. Overall care has been impacted as well.”


Critical surgeries also have decreased and elective surgeries are backed up, continues Kanubaddi. Specifi c procedure areas, lie orthopedic replacements and cardiac procedures, have markedly declined by double digits year over year, he eplained. Some estimates point out that elective procedure volumes will be at 75 percent to 85 percent of pre- COVID capacity by the end of 2020, but that might even be too optimistic depending on infections in the local area. Add to this an anticipated backlog of elective procedures that is anywhere from si to  months by some estimates.”


Scheduling, inventory concerns The crisis has disrupted the availability of supplies and the coordination of schedul- ing.


Hospital IQ’s block schedule solution 20 February 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • hpnonline.com


“Capacity of care has been hindered due to challenges with supply and demand,” Gilbert said. “Scheduling priorities drasti-


Page 22


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70