The EPIC SANDPO lettering system and decreased operating room efficiency

Abstract

Background:

A new preoperative system (SANDPO) was incorporated into our electronic medical record to improve turnover time and patient safety. SANDPO requires the completion of specific tasks by Surgeons (S), Anaesthetists (A) and Nursing staff (N), completion of Documents (D), Patient consent and identification (P) and Operating Room (O, for OR) staff verifications before patients can be taken for surgery. The system was implemented at the same time in our main operating room and the Specialty Care Building, our new outpatient surgical area.

Aim:

Identify the impact of SANDPO on turnover time as a measure of operating room efficiency.

Methods:

Pre- and Post-SANDPO data from our Main (1 October 2021 to 26 August 2023) and Specialty Care Operating Rooms (26 September 2022 to 26 August 2023) were analysed to assess turnover time.

Results:

Compared to Pre-SANDPO, turnover time increased 24.1% in the main operating room and was significantly lower in the Specialty Care versus the main operating room. Adult cases experienced more delays versus paediatric. Simple setup cases showed the largest increases in turnover time.

Conclusion:

SANDPO, introduced by hospital administration to enhance safety, significantly and unexpectedly decreased operating room efficiency.