Turnover Time: an antiquated term

The term ‘turnover time’ is well-known among anyone who works in the OR.  And for hospital and surgery center administrators, turnover time is routinely at the top of the list of key performance indicators.  There are continual efforts to reduce the turnover time between cases, so that the operations scheduled for the day are completed within the intended hours and, ideally, to provide an opportunity to do more surgery during a day.  That amount of time between cases is a discrete number, and for that reason, it has been the most readily available metric to follow.


However, if we were to step back and look at the core issue from a broader perspective, we may find that a different approach would yield better results.  By applying principles embraced by industries outside of healthcare, we may be able to shift the paradigm and think about management of operating room resources in a different way.  The concept of ‘idle time’ rather than turnover time more aptly addresses the central element in optimizing an operating room daily schedule. Idle time not only captures the time that transpires between cases, but also thinks about the problem from a broader perspective that encompasses the idle time of the operating room itself, the idle time of the equipment, the idle time of the OR personnel, and the idle time of the surgeon, among other resources.  Fortunately, we are now at a point technologically, that we can harness the power of the data that are collected related to those assets and generate recommendations that provide substantial value to the healthcare system.

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