In the previous post of our Vital Stats series, we explored the relationship between FCOTS and delays. (Hint: relying on FCOTS as a vital stat may be more problem than solution.) In the third post of our series, we dig into the biggest source of waste for most health systems.
Your most expensive asset is sitting idle
ORs are one of the most valuable (and expensive) assets in a hospital. While block schedules and staffing models are constantly optimized on paper, what actually happens throughout the day is a different story. Hospitals spend a significant amount of time and money on pre-op planning, but without real-time insights, they can’t adapt quickly when schedules change or resources go unused.
So, where does the time actually go? Ask around, and you’ll hear the usual suspects:
- “Environmental services is running behind”
- “Prep teams were delayed”
- “Surgery went longer than expected”
Assumptions are not reality
To understand the real cost of OR downtime, we looked at one month of data across 38 hospitals from 8am to 3pm and found that, on average, 23% of all the time tracked was idle. In some hospitals, ORs were idle for as much as 62% of the time. This wasn't turnover. It wasn’t patient prep. These ORs were simply empty.
Check out our complete ebook on Vital Stats: Uncovering Hidden Inefficiencies in the OR to learn about the blind spots that ambient AI exposes and traditional documentation in the EHR often overlooks.
Why are empty rooms still the norm?
Same-day add-ons and overtime have become a standard part of hospital life. Meanwhile, operating rooms, fully staffed and ready, often sit unused for long stretches of time. This contradiction reveals a fundamental disconnect between planning and execution. When hospitals lack visibility into real-time OR activity, they can’t pivot quickly or fill open windows, even when patient demand is high.
This underutilization impacts:
- Turnover efficiency
- Case volume potential
- Staff overtime and burnout
- Revenue and profitability
The bottom line
What’s driving this disconnect? In many cases, it’s outdated systems: manual data entry, static schedules, and an overreliance on retrospective reporting. Without a dynamic, real-time understanding of how ORs are running, it’s impossible to adjust on the fly.
Hospitals can’t afford to lose half of their OR time to downtime. Once teams gain visibility into where the time is going, they can take control and take action. This leads to faster turnovers, more cases, and less overtime.
Check out our complete ebook on Vital Stats: Uncovering Hidden Inefficiencies in the OR to learn about the blind spots that ambient AI exposes and traditional documentation in the EHR often overlooks.