Regional Specialty Surgical Practice Efficiencies Gained as a Result of COVID-19

Abstract

Objective: To identify opportunities for discontinuing elective and nonemergency surgical cases in a regional surgical practice in response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients and Methods: COVID-19 began to affect surgical practices across the United States in March 2020. On March 17, 2020, all elective and nonemergency surgical care was deferred to prepare the Mayo Clinic Health System sites in northwestern Wisconsin for an anticipated surge in patients with COVID-19. When the decision was made to reactivate the surgical practice, several major structural and operational changes were made to the regional surgical practice to optimize efficiencies. Results: The structural and operational changes implemented during reactivation resulted in improved utilization of surgical resources including improvement in operating room (OR) block utilization, increased available OR time, and increased case volumes. Conclusion: Surgical and procedural leaders should consider a limited-time deferral of elective surgical cases to implement widespread OR efficiency strategies. The time selected for deferral of surgical cases should target a period of historically low surgical volume to minimize disruption to patient care and impact on overall OR functions.