Enhancing surgical care in BC

The increasing demand for surgical care, a growing emphasis on the quality and safety of care, and the rising costs of delivering health services are driving the need for the health care system to improve the level and quality of surgical care while keeping health care expenditures in check. [...] Faced with the pressure to increase the level and quality of surgical care, while keeping expenditures in check, the health system is beginning to turn to process improvement initiatives, such as Lean, Six Sigma, and other standardized methods of operational analysis to evaluate, redesign, and enhance the quality and efficiency of the surgical care system (Archer & Macario, 2006). [...] During the preoperative phase, the surgeon and hospital prepare the patient and the resources required to deliver the surgical care. [...] Scheduling can be a significant factor in the success of the patient’s surgical journey, and scheduling decisions can directly affect the number of patients who are able to obtain surgery and the overall performance of the perioperative system (Santibanez, Begen, & Atkins, 2007). [...] Delay in the First Case of the Day The delays in starting the first case of the day is a familiar topic of discussion and a general source of irritation for OR staff and managers (Masursky, Dexter, Isaacson, & Nussmeier, 2011).