Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
Volume 29, Issue 11, Pages 1919-1930Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocac138
Keywords
operating room; surgery; eOR; human factors; teamwork; decision-making
Categories
Funding
- National Institute for Nursing Research [R01 NR017916]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study evaluates the impact of the Anesthesiology Control Tower (ACT) on clinical workflow and patient safety by assessing nonroutine events (NREs) and analyzing risk alerts triggered by the ACT. The results show that ACT plays a crucial role in supporting patient safety by offering backup support and fresh perspectives on OR decisions. However, there are challenges such as message timing and cognitive lapses. Suggestions for improvement include tailoring ACT message content and incorporating predictive analytics. The study concludes that incorporating similar remote technology into routine perioperative care can greatly enhance safety and quality for surgical patients.
Objective The Anesthesiology Control Tower (ACT) for operating rooms (ORs) remotely assesses the progress of surgeries and provides real-time perioperative risk alerts, communicating risk mitigation recommendations to bedside clinicians. We aim to identify and map ACT-OR nonroutine events (NREs)-risk-inducing or risk-mitigating workflow deviations-and ascertain ACT's impact on clinical workflow and patient safety. Materials and Methods We used ethnographic methods including shadowing ACT and OR clinicians during 83 surgeries, artifact collection, chart reviews for decision alerts sent to the OR, and 10 clinician interviews. We used hybrid thematic analysis informed by a human-factors systems-oriented approach to assess ACT's role and impact on safety, conducting content analysis to assess NREs. Results Across 83 cases, 469 risk alerts were triggered, and the ACT sent 280 care recommendations to the OR. 135 NREs were observed. Critical factors facilitating ACT's role in supporting patient safety included providing backup support and offering a fresh-eye perspective on OR decisions. Factors impeding ACT included message timing and ACT and OR clinician cognitive lapses. Suggestions for improvement included tailoring ACT message content (structure, timing, presentation) and incorporating predictive analytics for advanced planning. Discussion ACT served as a safety net with remote surveillance features and as a learning healthcare system with feedback/auditing features. Supporting strategies include adaptive coordination and harnessing clinician/patient support to improve ACT's sustainability. Study insights inform future intraoperative telemedicine design considerations to mitigate safety risks. Conclusion Incorporating similar remote technology enhancement into routine perioperative care could markedly improve safety and quality for millions of surgical patients.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available