The operating room minute is often referred to as the most expensive unit in healthcare, as the cost of anesthesia, disposables and other equipment and labor continue to eat away at ASCs’ margins.
OR efficiency has since taken center stage in the conversation around ASC cost control and profitability, as leaders focus on new ways to determine where they’re missing opportunities to tighten operations and avoid financial liabilities.
Tara Bennight, BSN, RN, administrator of Austin (Texas) Premier Surgery, recently joined Becker’s to discuss her ASC’s strategy for plugging OR efficiency holes and how she realized it was time for a change.
Question: What’s a change you’ve made to your OR operations recently that’s actually moved the needle on efficiency — and what prompted it?
Tara Bennight: One change that significantly improved our OR efficiency was implementing standardized turnover workflows with clearly assigned responsibilities for each team member during room turnover.
What prompted it was seeing repeated delays between cases that weren’t caused by one major issue, but by multiple small inefficiencies — unclear ownership during turnovers, equipment not being ready, and inconsistent communication between pre-op, OR, and sterile processing.
After reviewing turnover times and utilization trends, we created a more structured process:
- Defined turnover roles for nursing, scrub techs, anesthesia, and environmental services
- Standardized room setup by procedure type
- Improved communication huddles throughout the day
- Monitored block utilization and reallocated underused time
The result was shorter turnover times, fewer delays, improved on-time starts, and better surgeon satisfaction without adding staff. It also helped reduce staff frustration because expectations became much clearer, and the workflow felt more predictable.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.