Mastering the Art and Science of OR Scheduling: Challenges and Strategies

Surgery scheduling is the nucleus of the Operating Room and has always been a challenge. Historically, surgery schedulers and nurses have employed ledgers, Kardex systems, and various other methods to combat the variability and simplify the process. The use of computers has assisted, but ORs are continually asked to meet the demands of surgeons, staff, and patients. Join LiveData as we discuss the challenges of surgical scheduling and strategies that can be employed to mitigate those challenges. Using published literature and expert opinion, we will explore the difficulties and nuances of scheduling, block time, OR policies involving scheduling, surgical suite governance, and patient and staff satisfaction. We will discover how using LiveData’s comprehensive scheduling software program can optimize OR utilization, forecast demand, provide data for decision-making and process improvement, and boost satisfaction for patients and staff.

The Speakers:

Aileen Killen, PhD, RN

Aileen R. Killen, RN, PhD, CPPS is the Director, Perioperative Excellence at LiveData, Inc. In her role,
she collaborates with the LiveData team to develop and implement strategies for customer adoption and utilization of LiveData PeriopManager, a surgical workflow solution. In addition to holding perioperative leadership positions in some of the country’s leading medical facilities, including New York University Medical Center, The Hospital for Special Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Aileen was also heavily involved in the patient safety arena as an AHA-NPSF Patient Safety Leadership Fellow, where she focused on designing operating rooms for patient and staff safety. In 2014, she was appointed as Global Head of Healthcare Consulting at AIG, where she established AIG as a safety thought leader across the global healthcare industry. Aileen earned a diploma in nursing from Sacred Heart Hospital School of Nursing and a BSN from DeSales University, both in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She holds an MS in Nursing from the University of Maryland in Baltimore, a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from New York University, and a PhD from Boston College School of Nursing. Dr. Killen has spoken at conferences locally, regionally, and nationally on perioperative nursing topics, including patient safety, ethics, and perioperative management. She has also published on similar topics in several peer-reviewed journals.

Jeffrey Oliver, CCNS, CNOR

Jeffrey Oliver, Lt Col, Ret., is a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CCNS) and certified perioperative nurse (CNOR). He has over 30 years of nursing experience and has served in various nursing roles throughout his career. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force in 1995. He was deployed three times during his twenty-five-year career. In his last assignment, Jeff was assigned as faculty at the Uniformed Services University Graduate School of Nursing and served as the Perioperative Nursing Consultant to the Air Force Surgeon General. He retired from the Air Force in March of 2021
and served as the Director of Surgical Services at a community hospital in South Carolina.