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Queasy Feeling - April 2017 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 3 The Art of the Flip Ground rules govern when we let surgeons run 2 rooms. N ot long ago, flip was a four-letter word at our surgery center, but that's all many of our busier surgeons wanted to do: flip cases in a second operating room. For them, it was all about doing more cases in less time — not sitting in the doctor's lounge waiting for a room to turn over. We resisted letting our surgeons run 2 rooms for as long as we could, concerned that the long days and the late hours would take a toll on our staff. But we knew that if we didn't let our docs flip rooms, we'd be in danger of losing them to a competitor willing to accommo- date them. Two years ago, we finally conceded, but not before work- ing with our docs to set up strict guidelines on when we'd flip rooms. Rather than rush in, we wanted to ensure that overlapping surgeries would be efficient for us as well as for our doctors. Our overriding principle: Be selective. You don't want to flip every doc and every case. Here are 5 factors that help us decide. Is case length equal to turnover time? We prioritize flipping for cases where the turnover time is similar to the case duration. It 1 Business Advisor Dan Peterson, MHSA, FACHE • OVERLAPPING SURGERIES Room flipping lets your surgeons do more cases and, if managed properly, can decrease your staff overtime rates.

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