2 4 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E J U N E 2 0 1 7
block times. If you don't have a good mechanism to manage operating room
block allocation, it's almost meaningless to determine case expenses, no matter
what you do from a cost-accounting perspective. It's in those blocks that sur-
geons and facility leaders determine how many procedures to perform, the staff
needed to work the cases and the supplies and equipment that will be used.
When you gather the cost data for each block allocation, you'll be able to deter-
mine the cost per minute of the resources used. You'll also discover where to
find additional value along the entire patient care pathway.
• Map out the processes of care. So much of surgical care is multi-discipli-
nary. You have to meet with administrators, members of the business staff, anes-
thesia providers, leaders of the clinical team and physician schedulers to under-
stand exactly how patients are referred to your facility and how each step of the
perioperative process is performed, from admission to discharge. You then must
determine who touches patients along the way, the equipment and supplies they
use, and precisely how long each step takes.
• Drilling down to the details is worth it. It takes time and effort to gather all
of that information, but outpatient surgical facilities have a slight edge in deter-
mining the details of block allocations, because the surgeries they host are often
narrow in scope. You can more easily measure the entire range of the cost of
care, including the many variables that can impact it. Performing the exact same
procedures in a single room over time creates the very real possibility of cost
accounting down to the penny. Adding multiple surgeons and procedures with
many variables to the mix makes the process more difficult, but it's a worthwhile
exercise. Even though understanding the way business is done provides zero
value to patient care, it's essential to running a successful facility.
OSM
