Systematic and quantitative assessment and application of FMEA and Lean six sigma for reducing non productive time in operation theatre of a Tertiary Care Hospital in a metropolis

Abstract

IntroductionOperating room is one of the key departments of any hospital. Its carries high cost equipments. All the measures must be taken to make it highly efficient. Multidisciplinary approaches improves the OR efficiency and reduces the cancellation. AimThe aim was to study the OT utilization to evaluate Non-productive time for an elective surgery in Operation theatre of a Tertiary Care Hospital. Materials and methodsAll relevant OR processes in a busy surgical suite with five ORs were studied in detail over an 8-weeks period. Productive OR processes, and also reasons for unused times, were recorded by independent observers at 5-min intervals; they were able to code for productive activities and reasons for unused time. Unused time in the OR, the OR utilization rate and the average perioperative turnover times were calculated for each day and a correlation analysis was performed. ConclusionOur study have shown that by improving list management, OR rescheduling, reducing patient pathway time, reinforcing DayCare Surgery Program and establishing Pre-anesthesia clinic, improves the overall OR efficiency.