Analysis of health technology solutions for perioperative care

Achieving perioperative efficiency is complex due to its multifactorial nature and the unique workflow of different institutions. OR and perioperative efficiencies are critical to a hospital's finances. Consequences of perioperative inefficiencies include lost hospital revenue, low employee morale, increased surgical backlogs, and threats to patient safety. Health technology, or digital health, is technology centered towards creating efficiencies in healthcare. This descriptive study identified 10 private health technology companies tackling inefficiencies in perioperative care and interviews with perioperative care leaders. Technology solutions included adaptive block scheduling, data aggregation, and easing communication between OR teams. Interviews with 11 perioperative leaders found that the current perioperative care coordination is fragmented, manual, and time consuming. Adoption of health technology solutions for perioperative care has been low due to reliance on long-standing protocols, hesitance by overworked staff, and initial costs to purchase new technologies. For now, the private companies' main competitor is the hospital EHR. There are few private perioperative efficiency options to choose from, which is reflective of a slowing technology market operating in an already slow healthcare system.