How to Improve OR Room Utilization with Scheduling Software

Background

A Massachusetts-based gastroenterology department within a children’s hospital employs over 300 clinicians, including 70 endoscopists. The department specializes in pediatric GI, liver, and nutritional care while simultaneously advancing research.

Challenge

"As the department grew over the years, it became more and more difficult to track [provider requests and preferences]," the clinic supervisor said. "Ultimately, it was dependent on the admin manager and the medical director to keep track of and remember all the preferences. Also, due to the nature of manual entering, copying, and pasting in Excel, human error was unavoidable."

The ambulatory clinic supervisor and administrative manager oversaw inpatient service, clinic, and procedure schedules to evenly distribute physician workloads. However, frequent errors arose from the lack of a centralized system to track provider assignments.

The inpatient service schedule was planned on whiteboards and sticky notes, a process that took weeks to complete for a schedule that covered a 12-month period. Clinic and procedure schedules, created using various EHR templates, were similarly time-consuming and had to be cross-checked to avoid double bookings.

OR and call schedules added further complexity. Realtime updates were difficult, leading to unused OR time when shifts were missed or left unscheduled—a lost revenue opportunity. Call schedules were built manually in spreadsheets and required review by the interim department director, who had limited time to meticulously check them.

These difficulties compounded into a list of common frustrations for the gastro team:

• Outdated schedules that were printed and reprinted multiple times
• Errors in time-off requests
• Double-booked shifts
• Frequently rescheduled patient appointments
• Providers being contacted at the wrong time

As an added challenge, schedule information also had to be manually entered into the department’s paging software. These updates took a minimum of eight hours a month.

It was time to find a tech-enabled solution to ease the scheduling process by ensuring balance, accuracy, transparency, and access.

Solution

The clinic supervisor and administrative manager found PerfectServe’s Lightning Bolt Scheduling because it was already being used by other departments within the hospital. After consulting with some of these interdepartmental colleagues, the gastro team learned that they had great success with Lightning Bolt’s optimization and schedule auto-generation capabilities.

A huge selling point was the ability to connect with a technical consultant—a dedicated point of contact for the duration of their relationship. After the final decision was made, Lightning Bolt was fully implemented within two months.

Results

Conclusion

The gastroenterology department’s transformation with Lightning Bolt highlights the power of technology to solve complex operational challenges. By automating scheduling, reducing errors, and improving resource utilization, the department can dedicate more of its focus to patient care.

Streamlined workflows have eased administrative burdens, enhanced communication, and allowed clinicians to work more efficiently. As the department grows, Lightning Bolt’s flexibility and scalability make it an essential tool for maintaining provider wellness and operational excellence.

"I was able to generate eight months of schedule in less than 20 minutes."

- Clinical Supervisor

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