Vienna: New IT system reduces surgery waiting times
Approximately 150,000 surgical interventions are performed every year in the hospitals of Vienna. Efficient coordination of OR schedules in the individual clinics as well as the reduction of patient waiting times are therefore crucial objectives in successful hospital management.
A new IT-based scheduling system which has been in use since early 2008 has significantly reduced waiting times for routine interventions.
Today, patients wait only three rather than the previously four months for eye surgery, the waiting time for neurosurgical interventions was cut down by 50 percent from four to two months and in orthopedics from six to 4.5 months. The new system not only improves scheduling but also optimizes the usage of the individual operating theatres – a fact which was achieved by changing the surgery times while maintaining the working hours of the surgeons.
Obviously, emergencies and other urgent cases still receive priority handling. Moreover, patients who wish to be treated by a certain surgeon or in a certain hospital still may have to wait longer than the targeted waiting period.
In view of these convincing results the system will be implemented step by step in all major medical disciplines and by the end of the year waiting times are expected to have decreased significantly across the board.
This article was published on 04/30/2008