Financial incentives may reduce operation room turnaround times and improve on-time start accuracy, according to new research in JAMA Surgery.
Researchers studied the effect of a financial incentive program on the efficiency of OR teams, including surgeons, anesthesiologists,nurses and surgical technicians. They studied 10 months of surgeries performed at an academic trauma hospital in 2013. turnaround time was defined as “wheels out” to “wheels in,” and an on-time start was one occurring within six minutes of the scheduled start time.
Before implementing the financial incentive program, turnaround times were between 77 and 83 minutes on average, and between 18 percent and 26 percent of turnaround times were less than one hour. On-time starts occurred around one-third of the time. After the financial incentive, turnaround times of less than one hour increased to 52 percent and on-time starts improved between 31 percent and 64 percent, depending on the OR team in question.
While researchers suspect the financial incentive played a role in improving times, they also said the cost of the program, about $8,300 for every two months worth of incentives, was unlikely to be the only contributing factor. Also important were improve communication channels regarding start times and turnaround times, likely brought into focus for teams as they participated in the financial incentive program.
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