Many hospitals and health systems face barriers in leveraging accurate, real-time data to support surgical capacity management. Yet, access to such data can unlock myriad benefits, ranging from enhanced operating room efficiency to better insight into OR availability, improved schedule coordination and smarter allocation of resources.
Becker’s Healthcare recently spoke with Jeff Robbins, CEO of LiveData, to learn how deploying real-time data capture technology in the OR can streamline surgical workflows and elevate patient care and safety standards.
OR data is powerful, but data capture is often manual — and it shouldn’t fall on clinicians
Historically, data capture in hospitals meant writing in paper charts. Today, however, software-based systems abound within healthcare organizations. Though these solutions were developed with the best of intentions, in reality it is often slower to enter patient data into these solutions than documenting the information with a notepad and pen.
“The paradox of current practice in surgery is that we ask nurses to type more data into a computer before, during and after surgical cases to satisfy regulatory requirements, as well as for health and safety reasons,” Mr. Robbins said. “But none of these people went into healthcare to be data-entry clerks.”
To address this challenge, LiveData has created technology solutions that radically simplify data capture, especially in the OR environment. LiveData OR-DashboardTM with Active Time Out® displays key information on a large screen that is posted on the OR wall for all team members to easily see.
During surgical procedures, circulator nurses use LiveData’s four-button “clicker” device to navigate around fields on the OR Dashboard and then click and capture timestamps for important case milestones, such as patient in and out, surgery start and stop, closing time and more.
“Concurrent documentation is very difficult for clinicians when they’re on their feet in the operating room,” Mr. Robbins said. “There are a lot of moving parts. LiveData seeks to solve that challenge. Rather than going to a computer in the corner of the OR and logging in, the circulator nurse can work with the team at the operating table and participate in patient care-centric tasks. When needed, he or she can click and capture timestamps as needed.”
LiveData supports bi-directional, real-time integration with the EHR system. Data from the EHR is visible on the OR dashboard, and if errors are spotted, they can be fixed in LiveData and written back to the EHR.
“Ancillary processes like concurrent documentation are very important for safe, effective surgery,” Mr. Robbins said. “That’s where real-time data integration makes a huge difference. We treat the EHR as the system of record and LiveData as the system of engagement for OR teams.”
Visibility into data + streamlined documentation processes promote patient safety
As teams are prepping the OR, getting the salient facts about the patient and the case can be enormously helpful. For example, they might see on the LiveData OR-Dashboard that the patient has a latex allergy. Based on that information, the team can proactively remove any latex products from the room and avoid opening any packs containing items with latex.
“Healthcare organizations are doing a better job of capturing important patient data in digital systems. It’s not buried in a paper chart somewhere,” Mr. Robbins said. “But how do you get that information into people’s awareness? It can be a challenge — that’s why we are fans of posting key data on a big screen on the wall of the OR.”
Incorporating timestamps into process checkpoints can also contribute to patient well-being. A recent change to surgical documentation includes a fire-risk assessment because certain prep agents are flammable and surgical tools may ignite those substances.
“We want to make sure that the right steps are taken to allow those agents to evaporate long enough to reduce any fire risks,” Mr. Robbins said. “Through technology and concurrent timestamps, we can double down on making it easier to implement these types of checkpoints and pauses. The goal is to avoid stress and distractions for staff in the OR.”
Real-time case milestone data helps to improve operational efficiency
Information from LiveData helps hospitals streamline workflows and increase the productivity of their OR resources. For example, when a surgical team creates a timestamp that they have started to close the patient, environmental services receives a notification.
They know which OR to clean next, enabling another procedure to start sooner.
“These workflow improvements snowball into a more tightly run operation without anyone working harder to make that happen,” Mr. Robbins said.
To optimize surgical caseloads and OR block-time utilization, many organizations are turning to analytics. Real time case milestone data can help here, since the old adage — garbage in, garbage out — holds true.
“If you don’t have accurate timestamps captured in the OR, there are limits to how well any analytics algorithm will work,” Mr. Robbins said. “Whenever people enter timestamps manually, that data is an approximation because it’s after the events have occurred. The timestamps are based on memory or maybe even on notations written on the sleeves of the nurse’s scrubs. Consequently, any analytics-based recommendations for improving case mix and OR utilization won’t be as accurate as they could be.”
LiveData enables surgical teams to create fine-grained, concurrent timestamps. These allow organizations to better schedule their next set of OR cases. Predictions about likely case times give hospital schedulers a set of power tools to augment their planning skills. More accurate data about what’s really going on makes them more effective in their jobs.
Driving workflow changes in complex, high-acuity processes must be done with care
At some hospitals, procedure scheduling workflows are onerous for community surgeons. As a result, these clinicians decide to take their procedures to different institutions. Streamlined workflows can increase demand for ORs. Making it easy for surgeons to schedule at a hospital and then running ORs more smoothly are integral to LiveData’s solutions.
“If a surgeon has a case that they might bring to your organization, but there are one too many phone calls or faxes involved to schedule it, they may go elsewhere,” Mr. Robbins said. “LiveData’s software tools provide a secure, curated view of OR availability, which makes it easy for practice managers to jump on slots when they open up in the hospital schedule.”
In hospitals where OR capacity is already near its limit, streamlining workflows can also be beneficial, as it helps to ensure patients are treated safely and staff can still go home on time at the end of the day. Whether an organization is looking to bring in more surgical cases or optimize limited OR resources, LiveData’s solutions can help.
“Users have to accept software,” Mr. Robbins said. “If they don’t, technology won’t help. It’s key to make software compelling for the team to use, rather than creating a senior management mandate. That’s why LiveData has created things like the clicker device and other simple steps to make it easier for staff to capture surgical data in real time.”
Having access to accurate, real-time data in the OR setting can provide significant benefits. Yet for many organizations, even those that have implemented various technological solutions, access to this data in easy to-use formats is still lacking. When it comes to data-driven, technology-based tools in the OR, ease of use is what leads to widespread user adoption and creates a virtuous cycle for organizations.
“Our tools are ancillary to the important work done in the OR, but to the extent that we can make that environment better for the team, it gives us a great deal of job satisfaction,” Mr. Robbins said.