The Effect of Scheduling on Operating Room Utilization at an Affiliated Hospital of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd

Introduction: Resource management and efficiency analysis assist the hospitals in controlling the expenses and optimum utilization. Operating room (OR) is a critical department in a hospital and its performance highly affects the financial resources. The current study tried to measure OR utilization at a University Hospital of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study in which 151 surgeries performed in four ORs were recorded in a total of 53 OR days. Data analysis was carried out using Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Results: OR utilization was measured as 68% for Orthopedics OR, 61% for Ophthalmology, 89% General Surgery, and 86% for ENT. In general, 13400 minutes out of 19080 available min. were used for the surgeries and 1215 min. for turn-over-time or delay between two surgeries. Of the total 53 days, 7 days were used efficiently, 27 days were under-utilized, and 19 days were over-utilized. Data analysis showed that Orthopedics and Ophthalmology rooms were under-utilized, while General Surgery and ENT rooms were over-utilized. Conclusion: Regarding the importance of surgical suites efficiency, calculation of OR utilization could provide valuable and practical information for the managers to efficiently use the hospital resources. Therefore, it is highly recommended to insert the exact start and end time for each surgery in specified software. Further similar studies are suggested with larger records for more effective scheduling of the surgeries and improved OR efficiency.