Perioperative IT brings major efficiencies to Allina Health

The health system has added 3.5 cases per OR per month, which means greater revenue, shorter waiting lists for patients – and busier and more satisfied surgeons. The main source of revenue for Allina Health, a health organisation centred in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is surgery. In 2018, Allina sought to optimise its surgical services by eliminating as much waste and inefficiency in every surgical process, from the time surgery was indicated in clinic through the day of surgery and discharge from PACU. This was done as part of an overall health system initiative to improve patient flow and increase capacity. Vice President of Operations Bill Evans said, "Our hypothesis was that there were surgical cases we were losing as a result of the inconsistent and unpredictable flow of an operative day, so we wanted to utilise standard work across our ORs to ensure our patients and surgeon experienced as predictable surgery day as possible."