Lucy Lee, RN, MBA, B.M, PMP, recently shared her knowledge with OR Today readers via the informative and insightful free webinar “Art and Science of Block Schedule Management.”
Lee is director and co-founder of Hospital Performance Management (H.O.P.E. Management). She is an experienced people and project manager with 20 years of clinical, managerial and consulting experience in health care. She has provided management-consulting services within a variety of acute care institutions in the teaching, community and for-profit sectors. Lee has led a variety of perioperative department turnaround, productivity improvement, and operational cost reduction projects in comprehensive engagements.
Efficient and effective operating room utilization is the cornerstone of a financially productive department. A well-designed and managed block schedule creates the framework for a highly dynamic process. Lee’s presentation reviewed industry principles surrounding the creation and maintenance of a block schedule, and key points of an effective policy and procedure. She explored a real life case-study of block schedule policy and procedure refinement, in particular, the implementation and reinforcement of the policy, and the best practices they have been embraced to facilitate ongoing management of the block schedule. Her interactive dialogue led the audience to identify common errors, potential pitfalls, and proactive tactics to avoid issues.
During the presentation, participants learned the essential elements of an effective block scheduling policy and procedures, and success factors of policy enforcement. The webinar provided a definition and calculation methodology of key performance indicators and solutions to complicated scenarios of block utilization measurement.
Lee also described practical strategies to drive collaborative decisions and optimize the use of OR time and resources through data-driven block management.
The webinar revived high marks from attendees in a post-webinar survey.
“I found the webinar presented today both informative and motivating to maximize utilization within our facility,” Christy B. wrote in her survey.
“This presentation validated some areas we are doing well at and gave inspiration to areas of opportunity,” Karen J. shared.
“The webinar was very timely as this is a huge challenge here and we are working toward effective and fair management of our blocks that are currently controlled by the chief of surgery. Taking control of our blocks will be paramount to successful OR resource management,” Randall R. added.
“Great information provided here! The slides we full of information for future reference as well,” Marleigh H. wrote.
For more information about the OR Today webinar series, including recordings of previous webinars and a calendar of upcoming presentations, visit ORToday.com and click on the “WEBINARS” tab.
