Designing a Right-Sized SPD to meet Current and Future OR Needs

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We have all seen it. Departments go through renovations because production processes have changed. Volume has increased or decreased. Or upgrades may simply need to be made due to poor mechanical performance of old, outdated equipment in use beyond its intended life cycle. The reasons are endless.

Fortunately there are a number of tools at your disposal to ensure the right department design comes to fruition now, and can serve your objectives well into the future without a continual need to tweak as can happen when the initial vetting process is cut short or drafted without a full complement of input and well documented data, forecasting and general information.

To do this, however, you need to know certain imperative details. Listed below are some questions to consider as you begin to craft your plan for a new department, remodel or expansion:

·        What are your current volumes of the following:

·        What specialties are the executive team looking to grow for the facility and how and in what areas will it affect you and the operating room?

·        Have you investigated new or emerging technologies? Do they have a place in your department after you have reviewed the executives’ outlook for the future?

·        Does your plan allow for deviations in expected outcomes in volume and the accompanying staffing needs and work flow?

·        How will you handle it if volumes grow at an excelled rate? What is your back up plan?

These are just a few, but important, considerations. Without forecasting needs, it is all too common to be left with a “new” department that is already outdated before you know it; rendering it ineffective. With some careful thought, information of the global and macro strategic plan of the executive team, you can design and build a department to last as intended.

It can function very well from a process flow perspective, too, for many, many years to come!