Operating Room Management - Surgical Suite Leadership

Surgical Suite Leadership

Generally, an institution or private surgery center will have an agreed upon leader, generally dubbed the “Operating Room Manager.” The reporting structure is typically to a VP of surgical services. A manager may have the business and academic ability to operate a facility, but without the cooperation of staff and practitioners, most reform efforts will be futile.

An OR manager must be in compliance with several internal and external governing bodies. Depending on the institution, a given manager may have to work closely with committees ranging from patient safety and medical staff safety boards to an auxiliary OR committee. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) puts forth an external, universal regulatory standard for hospitals and ORs. An OR manager must maintain compliance with this spectrum of policies in order to maintain both patient safety as well as hospital accreditation. One of many notable policies put forth by JHACO is the universal protocol, implemented to ensure patient safety. This protocol requires that three sequential events must be completed prior to surgical incision in order to reduce iatrogenic errors and postoperative complications. The three checkpoints are (1) preoperative verification of procedure and background information, (2) marking of the operative site with a marker and surgeon’s initials, and (3) an official timeout for an audible confirmation of patient identity and the procedure to be completed. These regulations have proven to reduce avoidable complications of intraoperative mistakes and resultant postoperative morbidities and mortalities.