Researchers analyzed 44,503 surgical cases scheduled over a two-year period at West Virginia University in Morgantown to determine whether there were differences between predicted and surgical times.
Here are four points:
1. Jeremiah Jeffers, MD, an assistant professor in the department of anesthesiology at West Virginia University and one of the study’s researchers, reported around 79 percent of surgical specialties underestimate how much time they’re actually going to take in the operating room.
2. There was a significant difference in the surgical times that were predicted versus the actual times, of about six to seven minutes, in a confidence interval.
3. The three specialties with the highest mean errors, of which actual duration was longer than predicted, were pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery. The specialties with the best scheduling practices were urology and gastroenterology.
4. Researchers found pulmonary, organ procurement and podiatry consistently underestimated surgical times, where actual times were shorter than expected.
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