Healthcare executives are facing a perfect storm. Reimbursements are shrinking because of Medicaid cuts, value-based care, and payer pressures. At the same time, demand is rising fast. An aging population, more chronic illnesses, and hospital closures are pushing more patients into the system. Staffing is also a huge challenge. Burnout, retirements, and fewer people entering healthcare are leaving critical gaps. All of this is creating major capacity shortfalls and serious financial pressure. The result? Long wait times, overworked staff, and strained hospital budgets. Hospital leadership must invest in strategies that build the resiliency needed today for the uncertainty of tomorrow.
The operating room (OR) is one of the most effective ways to strengthen both the financial and clinical performance of a health system. ORs typically account for up to 70% of hospital revenue and nearly 40% of expenses. As reimbursement structures evolve and technology makes outpatient procedures more viable, hospitals are reevaluating their surgical capacity and resources. With inpatient surgery volumes declining and outpatient procedures on the rise—often outpacing inpatient growth—many C-suite leaders have dedicated efforts to improve efficiency within the OR and are increasingly turning to innovative technology and AI to make it happen.
Past attempts to enhance OR efficiency often focused on isolated problems within the perioperative system—like early block release and access to open time—which might yield short-term gains, but don’t address the systemic needs for long-term success.
Holistic, AI-powered perioperative transformation must address three key areas: rooms, cases, and staff:
1. Optimized block schedule management
Optimized block management is a fundamental cornerstone of maximizing OR resources. OR managers typically consider 80% to be an ideal balance, but our internal benchmarking finds that hospitals in the 50th percentile report actual utilization at 62%, and those in the 75th percentile still only report 70% block utilization. Low block utilization can be due to several factors, including block release constraints, surgeon preferences, staffing, and unpredictable case lengths. Poor utilization leads to limited access for providers, delayed surgeries for patients, and lost revenue. It’s no wonder that in one of our recent surveys of perioperative leaders, 70% said they have more demand for OR time than available capacity.
The University of Kansas Health System (TUKHS) experienced this very challenge with limited block management policies. Only half of available block time was being used, yet surgeons still reported difficulty in accessing the OR time they needed. To address this, TUKHS implemented a data-driven “single source of truth” to track OR utilization, identify inefficiencies, and leverage new technology that allowed surgeons to reclaim and optimize unused block time. Within just one year, they achieved a 20% increase in block utilization, a 5% rise in prime time utilization, and an 8% growth in case volume.
2. Dynamic, data-driven case planning
The complexity of case planning extends beyond basic scheduling—it demands a dynamic, data-driven approach to coordinating resources, aligning with patient needs, and streamlining surgical workflows. Traditional methods often lead to communication gaps, resulting in scheduling conflicts, delays, and patient dissatisfaction. Advanced AI and predictive analytics provide real-time visibility and a centralized platform for perioperative coordination, empowering OR leaders to ensure that essential resources—from staff to surgical supplies—are in place when needed. By accurately forecasting case duration, these tools minimize delays, optimize scheduling, and enhance both operational efficiency and patient outcomes.
OhioHealth’s Bone and Joint Center at Grant Medical Center struggled with scheduling inefficiencies and inaccurate case length estimations, which led to overbooked cases, staff burnout, and high overtime costs. Within two months of launching a centralized platform powered by advanced analytics, OhioHealth was able to increase case length accuracy by 6%, achieve a total improvement of 20% in case length accuracy, and reach 70% accuracy in case predictions within a 15-minute window, ultimately enhancing scheduling efficiency and reducing staff strain.
3. Staff planning that aligns requirements with actual OR schedules
OR efficiency depends on smart, dynamic staff planning, yet traditional models rely on rigid schedules that can’t adapt to changing surgical demand. This static approach results in costly overstaffing or critical personnel shortages. Most OR roles—including perioperative nurses, surgical technologists, surgeons, and anesthesia providers—are expected to face moderate to severe shortages in the next 5–10 years. Driving this trend are an aging workforce, rising surgical volumes, limited training pipelines, and uneven geographic distribution. Now more than ever, optimizing staffing and easing the burden of scheduling is essential.
By using data-driven forecasting to align staffing needs with actual OR volumes, hospitals can ensure that each team member’s expertise aligns with the day’s procedures. Such an approach helps avoid staffing-related delays, reduces burnout, and enables hospitals to maintain a highly prepared and engaged workforce, ready to handle the complexities of surgical care. Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU) Center for Health and Healing (CHH) faced these challenges when they relied on fragmented, manual processes for daily staff assignments. Implementing an automated, predictive framework streamlined the assignment process, provided real-time insights into staff availability, and eliminated duplicate data entry. This, in turn, empowered staff to make faster, more informed staffing decisions, giving teams up to 25 hours back in regained time per week.
As the healthcare industry evolves and becomes more resilient to change, the time for fragmented solutions is over. A fully integrated approach backed by cutting-edge predictive analytics integrated into existing workflows and driven by change management enables hospitals to realize their OR’s full potential—all while continuing to improve another key driver of clinical and financial performance.
I’ll be diving deeper into these strategies and more at Transform Hospital Operations Virtual Summit this June 10-11. Register here.
