Introduction to the Operation Room Management technology: Interrupted Time Series analysis in an urban acute care hospital facility in Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Background: The surgical pathway represents a fundamental process in hospital productivity, and its digitalization is a major focus for hospital management. ASL Roma 1 health authority has taken up this digitalization challenge by introducing an Operation Room Management (ORM) system within the operating block of one of its hospital facilities in 2022.

Study design: Interrupted Time Series analysis.

Methods: To evaluate the impact of Operation Room Management system adoption, data on surgery were collected from all inter-ventions performed during two periods: January-June 2019 and January-June 2023. Analysis of the Operation Room Management system utilization rate since its introduction was performed, to estimate staff adaptation to the new software.

Results: As of June 2023, paper-registered interventions were 9%, nearing 100% for elective procedures only. The difference between the average intervention times was significantly in favor of the Operation Room Management cohort when restricting the analysis to Orthopedics (-9.02 minutes, p=0.006) and Surgery (8.47 min, p = 0.03). There was a modest but significant impact of Operation Room Management on the 'entering Operation Room to Incision' time (5 min, p < 0.01).

Conclusion: Overall, the adoption of the Operation Room Management did not worsen process outcomes. Operation Room Mana-gement offers advantages in real-time data quality, integrated with territorial and hospital platforms, contributing to a favorable cost-benefit assessment of digitalization.