CLOCK MANAGEMENT Start asking questions immediately when surgery doesn’t start on time.

QUICK RESPONSE
Don’t Delay Investigating Case Delays

If you ask a surgeon why a case was delayed on August 4th sometime in September when you’re reviewing the previous month’s data, the surgeon will be hard-pressed to remember where he operated that day, let alone why his case started late. Instead, send an e-mail to the surgeon the morning the delay happened. It shouldn’t be punitive. Treat it as a fact-finding mission while the reasons are fresh in the surgeon’s mind: We saw your case didn’t start on time today. Can you give us a comment on why you think that happened? You might not get a definitive answer immediately, but you’ll get a more accurate place to start in your attempts to find out.

Robert Foglia, MD
University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas
[email protected]