Data Driven Insights to Operating Room Inefficiencies: What’s next? Part 1

Operating rooms are a major source of both revenue and expenses within hospital systems and surgical centers. Over the past two decades, a considerable amount of work has been done to identify and address sources of wastefulness that contribute to operating room inefficiencies. Quality improvement strategies have included surgery scheduling algorithms, Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, patient- centered data, and direct observations of communications and processes. While significant gains in efficiency have been demonstrated, there still exists substantial opportunity for improvement. The purpose of Part 1 of this narrative review is to synthesize the existing research on pre-operative factors that directly impact operating room efficiencies, discuss existing technologies previously used to address these factors, and identify the potential for new technologies capable of data-analytics to further create value within the operating room. Part 2 will cover intra- and post-operative sources of inefficiencies and propose potential technological and data solutions.