TY - JOUR
T1 - Efficiency of an endoscopy suite in a teaching hospital
T2 - delays, prolonged procedures, and hospital waiting times
AU - Yong, Elaine
AU - Zenkova, Olga
AU - Saibil, Fred
AU - Cohen, Lawrence B.
AU - Rhodes, Kay
AU - Rabeneck, Linda
PY - 2006/11
Y1 - 2006/11
N2 - Background: Increased demand for screening colonoscopy necessitates improved efficiency in endoscopy units, especially more efficient use of existing resources. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of the endoscopy unit of a large tertiary care teaching hospital. Objective: To assess the efficiency of the endoscopy unit in a large tertiary care teaching hospital. Design: Prospective study from May 16 to September 5, 2003. Setting: Endoscopy unit of a 650-bed acute care teaching hospital. Patients: Inpatient and outpatient procedures. Main Outcome Measurements: Time elapsed between endoscopic procedures; the duration of the procedures; procedure delays (>15 minutes between procedures) and the reasons for them. Results: The research assistant observed 675 endoscopic procedures done for 625 patients (207 inpatients [33%]). The most common procedure was colonoscopy (42.1%), followed by EGD (36.0%). Overall, procedures for 193 (30.9%) of the 625 patients were delayed (>15 minutes between procedures), 70.5% (136/193) because the physician was not available to start the procedure. The time elapsed between procedures was longer than 30 minutes for 47 of the 193 delayed procedures (24.4%). The duration of procedures was prolonged for about 22% (130/593) of procedures. Conclusions: Physician unavailability contributed to considerable delays in endoscopic procedures. Strategies to reduce procedure delays could have a favorable impact on the volume of procedures performed in the unit, thereby improving the use of existing resources. We encourage other groups to assess the efficiency of their hospital-based endoscopy units.
AB - Background: Increased demand for screening colonoscopy necessitates improved efficiency in endoscopy units, especially more efficient use of existing resources. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of the endoscopy unit of a large tertiary care teaching hospital. Objective: To assess the efficiency of the endoscopy unit in a large tertiary care teaching hospital. Design: Prospective study from May 16 to September 5, 2003. Setting: Endoscopy unit of a 650-bed acute care teaching hospital. Patients: Inpatient and outpatient procedures. Main Outcome Measurements: Time elapsed between endoscopic procedures; the duration of the procedures; procedure delays (>15 minutes between procedures) and the reasons for them. Results: The research assistant observed 675 endoscopic procedures done for 625 patients (207 inpatients [33%]). The most common procedure was colonoscopy (42.1%), followed by EGD (36.0%). Overall, procedures for 193 (30.9%) of the 625 patients were delayed (>15 minutes between procedures), 70.5% (136/193) because the physician was not available to start the procedure. The time elapsed between procedures was longer than 30 minutes for 47 of the 193 delayed procedures (24.4%). The duration of procedures was prolonged for about 22% (130/593) of procedures. Conclusions: Physician unavailability contributed to considerable delays in endoscopic procedures. Strategies to reduce procedure delays could have a favorable impact on the volume of procedures performed in the unit, thereby improving the use of existing resources. We encourage other groups to assess the efficiency of their hospital-based endoscopy units.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33750029038&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33750029038&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gie.2006.02.047
DO - 10.1016/j.gie.2006.02.047
M3 - Article
C2 - 17055870
AN - SCOPUS:33750029038
SN - 0016-5107
VL - 64
SP - 760
EP - 764
JO - Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
JF - Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
IS - 5
ER -