OR Utilization has been discussed for years by both hospital c-suite and private anesthesia groups but the two rarely come together to collaborate on improvements.
Most hospitals have an overall target utilization number they hope to achieve, typically between 75%-85%, which includes turnaround time. However, most hospitals rarely drill down to look at utilization for anesthesia specifically, even though it’s the specialty most often in need of financial support to meet coverage requirements.
For hospitals with employed anesthesia providers, it is just as important to review OR Utilization to assist with managing staff, improve efficiency and identifying underutilized rooms that can reduce cost. There is a shortage of anesthesia providers that will get worse in the coming years; utilization data pertaining to anesthesia can help in all those areas.
For private anesthesia practices, it’s important to use OR utilization data to encourage open dialogue with your hospital administration and demonstrate how meeting staff scheduling requirements may require financial support by identifying underutilized rooms. This data is essential since many Electronic Health Records or hospital platforms designed to capture Utilization date often overlook time for non-OR procedures and labor.
Whether you’re a hospital employing the anesthesia providers or a private anesthesia practice, Fusion can help. We’re more than an anesthesia billing and practice management company; we have a consultative approach with our clients and use information learned through billing data, client meetings and conversations to develop solutions for both our hospital and private practice clients.
Developed with a client focus group, Fusion’s new Utilization Dashboard is an interactive tool that provides actionable data and the foundation for discussions between hospitals and independent anesthesia practices. Fusion obtains some very basic information and coverage requirements and combines that information with billing data to begin the development of your Dashboard. The user can see Utilization by facility, day, time of day, OR and make adjustments in real-time. Utilization data is then displayed in several types of graphs and the data is fully exportable to excel.
If you’re not having conversations regarding Utilization, let us help you get that conversation started.
Contact Fusion Anesthesia Solutions today at sales@fusionanesthesia.com to schedule a demo.
