Increased healthcare costs and diminishing returns have prompted healthcare administrators to address budget allocations to alleviate institutional costs. Current economic constraints, such as limited Medicaid and Medicare insurance payments, limit our patients' ability to receive urgent surgical interventions as well as access preventative diagnostic tools. Rather than downsizing the workforce, future sustainability must be derived upon effective cost structures supported by improved quality control measures and increased patient accessibility. Surgeries were performed during 29% of hospitalizations and comprised 48% of the $387 billion in healthcare expenditures in 2011. Further, surgical procedures managed to account for 40-70% of hospital revenues. Effective cost reduction begins at the source and in the case of hospital systems, the operating room (OR). Taking this into consideration, administrators evaluating future revenue streams should look to consider OR-based cost reduction measures as part of their first step approach. Improving OR efficiency through block time and staff optimization remain the premise of today's existing literature on OR management strategies.
Keywords: Administration; Block time; Cost analysis; Investment; Medicare; Operating room efficiency; Operating room management; Reimbursement; Return; Scheduling; Staff optimization; Sustainability.