The Glossary of Times Used for Scheduling and Monitoring of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures also known as the Procedural Times Glossary (PTG) was originally developed with the support of the Association of Anesthesia Clinical Directors (AACD). The goal was to establish standardized terms to measure and assess the performance of operating room and procedural areas. By incorporating standardized concepts of efficiency and utilization, the PTG codified operating room metrics and facilitated benchmarking and quality improvement initiatives. In the last three decades, these concepts have also served as the basis for research in operating room management, including incorporating frameworks from diverse fields. The metrics in the PTG are divided into four categories: (1) Procedural Times; (2) Procedural and Scheduling Definitions and Time Periods; (3) Utilization and Efficiency Indices; and (4) Patient Categories. We describe each of the categories and corresponding metrics. The PTG provides the fundamental building blocks for managing operating and non-operating room suites. We hope that reintroducing these important time markers will help facilitate the reporting of standardized metrics.
Keywords: Efficiency; Glossary; Management; Metrics; Operating room; Terms.