You’d be surprised by how much physician schedulers can learn during a tour of your surgical circuit. They’ll realize that patients are rotated through ORs with factory-like efficiency, and cancelled cases or cases posted incorrectly often gum up highly coordinated clinical routines. So open your OR doors to physician schedulers — the often-overlooked but ultra-important cogs in the surgical machine — to improve communication between your facility and surgeons’ practices. Here’s how.
Spread the word. Suggest several dates for a tour, giving schedulers the opportunity to pick a day that works best for them. Send e-vites a month or two in advance, followed by frequent reminders.
Sell it. Tell the schedulers that you’d like to show them where their surgeons operate, introduce them to the people with whom they schedule cases and review your facility’s posting protocols.
Keep it real. Lead small groups on a tour of pre-op, the ORs, PACU and supply and equipment storage areas. Make sure the schedulers see clinical areas during your busiest times. They need to watch your staff in action to appreciate the organized chaos that makes surgical suites tick.
For more on how a behind-the-scenes look at your facility reinforces the impact physician schedulers have on your day to day, see "Schedule Time for the Schedulers" in the May 2008 issue of Outpatient Surgery Magazine.
—Daniel Cook
