Evaluation of an advance surgical scheduling system.

Utilization of the surgical suite is of significant concern to administrators because of the high costs associated with this facility. Scheduling systems, which control the flow of patients into the surgical arena, are frequently cited as a primary means of improving resource utilization. The objective of the research reported herein was to test the hypothesis that the implementation of a centralized advance surgical scheduling system is associated with a significant improvement in operating room (OR) team utilization rate. Data were collected at a test hospital and at a control hospital for three months prior to implementation of a scheduling system at the test hospital, and for an additional three months starting nine months after implementation. The mean OR team utilization rate at the test hospital rose 12% from 0.68 prior to implementation to 0.77 postimplementation. The mean OR team utilization rate at the control hospital fell 8%, from 0.78 preimplementation to 0.73 postimplementation. The research hypothesis was supported using multiple regression, which controlled for various intervening variables that could affect utilization rate independently of the scheduling system. A literature review showed that experimental designs such as the one used in this study have not previously been used to evaluate scheduling systems in hospital settings, despite the increasing need to justify the purchase and implementation of such systems.