The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality gave a grant to Clemson University researchers, the Medical University of South Carolina and Health Sciences South Carolina to develop operating room efficiencies that they'll eventually implement in an ASC.
Here are five key notes:
1. The initial grant is for $1 million, with an additional $3 million later on if approved over the next three years. The team will create a learning lab to design a safer, more ergonomic hospital operating room.
2. The team will design, develop and test various design and systems solutions for operating rooms and implement them in surgical environments. They will test the new operating room designs in a live clinical setting.
3. The operating rooms will be bigger and focus on solutions to prevent postoperative infections, reduce mistakes and avoid workplace injuries. They are building an operating room prototype in Charleston.
4. The project takes an integrated systems approach to improving patient safety outcomes using the physical environment in conjunction with other components like tasks and associated workflows, equipment design and individual factors.
5. The solutions will eventually be implemented in MUSC's new ambulatory surgery center in Charleston.