• S Talati, A K Gupta, A Kumar, S K Malhotra, and A Jain.
• Department of Hospital Administration, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
• J Postgrad Med. 2015 Jan 1; 61 (1): 3-8.

ContextOperation theater (OT) utilization.AimsTo analyze the time utilization and to assess the stated causes of cancellations of scheduled cases in the OT complex of a tertiary care teaching institute.Settings And DesignThis prospective study was carried out from December 2010 to April 2011.Materials And Methodseach of the 16 OT tables was observed for 6 days (total 96 days). The available resource hours were taken as 0800-1600 hrs. (480 min/day; 46,080 min in 96 days). The following parameters were recorded--time spent on supportive services, time spent on actual surgery, room turn over time, time spent for total procedure and time between entry and exit of patient.Statistical AnalysisData were analyzed using the SPSS software version 15.ResultsOf the total 325 scheduled cases, 252 were operated and 73 (22.5%) were cancelled. There were delays on 15 days (15.63%) in starting the OT table at the scheduled time. Of the total resource hours (46,080 min), the mean "Raw utilization" was 37,573 min (81.54%) and the "Adjusted utilization" was 39,668 min (86.09%). The mean time spent on "supportive services" was 5539 min (12.02%) and on "actual surgery"' was 28,277 min (61.37%), and the "room turn over time" was 2095 min (5.39%). Among the stated reasons for cancellations, lack of operating time--57 cases (78.1%)--was the most common.ConclusionStudy of time utilization and cancellation are important tools in assessing the optimal utilization of available resource hours in an OT.

19 keywords...

hide…