Closing Session: Moving your health system forward

Noreen Hudson, MSN, RN, Associate Director, Berkeley Research Group and Bill Orrell, MBA, MSN, RN, Managing Director, Berkeley Research Group concluded the OR Business Management Conference in a session, "Weathering the Storm - Moving Your Health System Forward in 2023 and Beyond." Their presentation focused on “putting it all together” and offering key takeaways of how to efficiently run an OR.

“There is a number of key performance indicators we use to measure success”, noted Orrell, but the question of how to reach a maximum level of performance still remains. Hudson shared with the audience how to best put these key performance indicators together in order to improve overall perioperative performance. “I cannot underscore the importance of having a well-rounded governance committee,” she noted, adding that it is key to have physician members who are invested in the outcome on this team. She also mentioned the significance of understanding how to leverage data, using it to see what the current status of performance is and also to motivate surgeons to work at their maximum potential. Hudson emphasized the idea of cost of care, “who is costing me money, who is making me money,” she said, you want to look for surgeons that have “high volumes, low costs, and high quality.”

She also shared some strategic imperatives that could open opportunities to improve utilization in the OR, including, utilizing room reduction, volume shifting, flip rooms and block modeling. Hudson noted that while institutions of different sizes operate differently, these imperatives work as a standard of improvement for all.

Orrell concluded the session and offered some key takeaways for how to best move a health system forward in 2023.

• “Understanding and interrogating data is critical,” he said, identify specific opportunities that could lead to better margins and operational efficiencies.
• A physician centric governing body must hold physicians accountable to performance expectations.
• Block time allocations and management should be focused on retaining and recruiting high performing surgeons.
• Poor block management and flip room allocations are significant reasons for low performance.