How Baptist Health Jacksonville and OHSU Used Innovative Approaches to Address Staffing Challenges in Operating Rooms, Resulting in 11% Increase in PTU at Baptist and Adding 25 More Cases/Month in Prime Time in Main ORs at OHSU

Speakers

Sara Hubbard Principal Consultant, Operational Performance Improvement, Baptist Health
Sara Hubbard, MBA, MA, LSSB, CPT, SHRM-SCP
Principal Consultant, Operational Performance Improvement, Baptist Health
Kristen Lund Manager, Preoperative Medicine Clinic/OR Scheduling/MSPU Scheduling, Oregon Health and Sciences University
Kristen Lund
Manager, Preoperative Medicine Clinic/OR Scheduling/MSPU Scheduling, Oregon Health and Sciences University
A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a white blazer and black top, smiles at the camera against a plain white background.
Ashley Walsh, MHA
Senior Vice President, Client Services-Operating Rooms, LeanTaaS

Summary

While simultaneously undergoing fluctuations in surgical case volume due to influxes of inpatient admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic, perioperative departments also experienced critical staffing shortages. These shortages were exacerbated by quarantined staff, leading to depletion of both employees and contractors, which in turn increased costs in efforts to supplement with additional travel staff or investment in recruiting and retention. Several leading health systems successfully leveraged innovative tools to navigate staffing shortages. 

In this session, join health system performance improvement and perioperative peers from Baptist Health Jacksonville, FL and Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) as they discuss best practices for managing OR backlogs and mitigating staff shortages in unpredictable environments. Key topics include converting block time to open time, identifying current and future volumes of surgical caseload to better match resource and staff constraints, standardizing urgency/priority definitions across facilities, and general staff retention strategies.

Both health systems adopted LeanTaaS’ advanced analytics solution iQueue for Operating Rooms to address their unique paint points. Baptist Health Jacksonville utilized a backlog management tool in the height of the pandemic, as well as proving strategies for staff optimization. OHSU leveraged predictive capacity and case length accuracy tools to effectively manage its OR rooms, given staffing and/or resource constraints. Each achieved success developing better utilization and staffing. 

Viewers of this webinar will be able to: 

  • Describe how fluctuations in surgical volume and staffing shortages affected perioperative departments during COVID-19
  • Explain strategies like converting block time and matching caseload to resources that optimized utilization and staffing
  • Evaluate how health systems like Baptist Health and OHSU leveraged innovative tools like iQueue to manage backlogs and mitigate staff shortages

Results

11%Increase in prime time utilization in one year at Baptist Health Jacksonville
39%Increase in prime time utilization since launch at Baptist Health Jacksonville
25Additional cases per month in prime time in main operating rooms at OHSU
5%Increase in staffed room utilization at OHSU
We have made some huge gains in our prime time utilization over the couple of years that we have been working with iQueue. And it’s not just a scheduling tool. We are utilizing the other components, Analyze and Collect, and really being able to maximize prime time utilization.
Sara Hubbard, MBA, MA, LSSB, CPT, SHRM-SCP
Principal Consultant, Operational Performance Improvement, Baptist Health, Jacksonville

Related resources

Lexington Medical Center logo featuring a green abstract design on the left and "Lexington Medical Center" in bold black text on the right.
Operating Rooms
Unlocking Your ORs' Potential: Lexington Medical Center Deploys Data-Driven Strategies for Maximizing Efficiency, Easing Staff Challenges, and Achieving a 6% Increase in Block Utilization
Ochsner Health logo featuring a stylized human figure with a yellow circle, and text reading "Ochsner Health System" in blue letters.
Operating Rooms
Transforming Surgical Services: Ochsner Health's Strategies for Enhancing Surgeon Engagement and Optimizing Block Time & Robotic Efficiency to Drive 10% Increase in Robot Utilization
CommonSpirit logo with gray text and a stylized purple cross symbol on the upper right, reflecting its connection to Dignity Health.
Enterprise Health Operating Rooms
Transforming Perioperative Performance: CommonSpirit Health Unites AI, Automation, and Change Management to Deliver a $40M ROI
Baylor Scott & White Health logo featuring a blue and teal cross symbol on the left and the organization’s name in blue and gold text on the right, representing excellence in healthcare solutions like OR utilization with iQueue.
Operating Rooms
How One Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Facility Helped Make Timely and Confident Strategic Decisions to Improve OR Block Utilization by 30%
University of Kansas Health System logo
Operating Rooms
Critical Components of OR Performance: How The University of Kansas Health System Built Stakeholder Engagement with Credible Data to Increase Block Utilization by 11%
Logo for Orthopedic + Fracture Specialists with the tagline "Put Your Life in Motion" displayed below the name, reflecting a commitment to surgical scheduling efficiency improvement.
Operating Rooms
From Backlog to Booked: Accelerating Case Velocity
Logos for The University of Kansas Health System and Iowa Health Care on a white background, representing leaders in data-driven surgical operations management.
Operating Rooms
Transforming Surgical Operations to Withstand Policy Shocks
Logo for Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, featuring the hospital name in white text on a maroon background with a decorative arch design above, symbolizing the capacity to care with intelligent workflows.
Operating Rooms
How Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Cleared Its Entire Surgical Backlog in 3 Months
LeanTaaS logo - Home
Operating Rooms
Winning the Complexity Game: Perioperative Orchestration of Supply and Demand
WakeMed Health logo with gray text and a red circular emblem featuring a white abstract design on the right side.
Operating Rooms
From Operating Rooms to Procedural Rooms:How WakeMed Created 10%+ More Capacity Without New Construction

Ready to get started?

Take the first step towards unlocking capacity, generating ROI, and increasing patient access.

Click to access the login or register cheese