The study, led by Franklin Dexter, MD, PhD, of the University of Iowa, investigated queuing behavior among 33 anesthesiologists by reviewing a three-year dataset. The researchers found queuing behavior to be homogenous among the anesthesiologists, with some variation in weekend days compared with evenings. Researchers noted that anesthesiologists were less likely to call in team members when fewer ORs were running than allocated in the group’s agreement, resulting in cases waiting, according to the study.
Researchers concluded by noting that number of cases waiting would be more appropriate for monitoring trends across time than actually wait times.
Read the Anesthesia & Analgesia report on evening and weekend anesthesia staffing.
