Executive Summary
Healthcare organizations face an uphill battle to effectively manage operating room (OR) block time, often resulting in underutilization of ORs and missed revenue opportunities. When the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System experienced low rates of surgeons voluntarily releasing block time in advance, Surgical Directions responded by leveraging its Merlin platform to develop customized analytics to highlight the benefits of proactive block management techniques. The tool provided OR leaders with clear insights into abandoned and automatically released block time, enabling more constructive conversations with surgeons. By making block utilization data transparent, the hospital shifted from a confrontational to a collaborative approach in managing OR time.
The rapid deployment of this technology led to a significant reduction in abandoned OR time and improved overall utilization. It also fostered better engagement and trust between OR leadership and surgeons. Merlin’s agility in delivering tailored solutions has driven lasting operational improvements, benefiting Sarah Bush Lincoln and other healthcare organizations in the Surgical Directions network.
Problem
Healthcare organizations face significant challenges in efficiently managing OR block time. At Sarah Bush Lincoln Health System, a critical issue emerged around the underutilization and abandonment of valuable OR time due to poor surgeon communication. While some surgeons were highly productive when on-site, they often failed to release block time in advance when they were unable to use it. This resulted in abandoned block time, leading to lower overall utilization rates and lost opportunities for the hospital to effectively repurpose that OR time.
The problem was further compounded by surgeons’ lack of awareness into the true impact of their abandoned time on block utilization metrics. The lack of granularity in the available data made it difficult for OR directors to engage in productive conversations with surgeons about their realistic block usage. Furthermore, the challenge of balancing efficient OR scheduling with maintaining strong surgeon relationships posed cultural and operational dilemmas for the hospital.
Solution
Surgical Directions quickly responded by leveraging the agility and adaptability of the Merlin platform, developing a new feature tailored specifically to Sarah Bush Lincoln’s needs. Within a short development timeframe, the Merlin team partnered closely with the hospital to understand the core problems and implement a solution designed to address the issue of abandoned days.
The newly introduced feature allows hospitals within the system to toggle between the two scenarios of included and excluded abandoned block days—days when block time was allocated to a surgeon but not used and days when the block time was released back to the hospital in advance. This feature provided the OR leadership with the ability to clearly demonstrate the missed opportunities when block time was not released early. By showing surgeons concrete data regarding how their block utilization metrics could improve if they proactively released unused time, the hospital fostered a collaborative approach to block management.
One of the most significant aspects of this solution was Merlin’s ability to innovate quickly in response to client feedback. The surgical governance team at Sarah Bush Lincoln highlighted the inefficiencies they were experiencing by being forced to manually adjust abandoned days, prompting Merlin’s development team to prioritize a seamless solution. Within weeks, a customized, scalable solution was built and rolled out for Sarah Bush Lincoln; this feature was also made available to other Merlin clients facing similar challenges.
In addition to the new technology feature, Surgical Directions worked with Sarah Bush Lincoln to implement a block governance committee, which met regularly to review data and proactively manage OR schedules. This shift toward frequent and real-time metrics engagement allowed the system to monitor block allocation more effectively, identifying patterns early and sustainably preventing block abandonment.
Results
The rapid innovation and quick deployment of Merlin’s new feature led to significant improvements at Sarah Bush Lincoln. The organization saw a marked reduction in abandoned days, as surgeons became more proactive in releasing unused block time, enlightened by the data transparency provided through Merlin. An additional benefit was an overall increase in OR utilization, as released block time was reallocated more effectively to other surgeons or services.
Immediate value creation of this solution was the increased trust in data and communication shared by OR leadership and surgeons. By offering surgeons a clearer understanding of their true utilization patterns, the system shifted the conversations from confrontational (“You’re not using your block efficiently.”) to collaborative (“How can we optimize your time and provide you with what you need?”). This foundation in data improved block management, while simultaneously fostering a culture of shared responsibility and accountability.
The speed at which the solution was developed and implemented is a testament to the agility of the Merlin platform and its ability to rapidly meet client needs. As a result, Sarah Bush Lincoln reestablish productive workflows, and the feature was successfully rolled out to other clients within the Surgical Directions network.
