Perspectives of OR management:: from process analysis to simulation-based planning and scheduling

The structural changes in the German health care system affect the development of existing clinical institutions. In particular, the hospitals are forced to efficiently allocate and mobilize above all - their economic resources in the operating theaters. Therefore, OR management plays an increasingly important role to optimize hospital resources for OR processes. The complexity of OR processes necessitates an interdisciplinary approach utilizing methods from medicine, operational research, business and computer science to approach the efficient and economical allocation of OR resources. Starting out from extensive analyses and documentation of workflows, numerous process models have been developed and cross-linked to other OR process parameters. In addition, this paper outlines the need and importance of standardization, the use of information, and the management of uncertainty in the OR planning and scheduling process. The conversion of these aspects into a simulation-based management approach for planning and control of OR suites shows the potentials for operational management as well as future tactical-strategic decision-making. The scientifically based simulation approach reaches far beyond the process and efficiency analysis of the standard organizational framework and is directed to future-oriented analytics. For the interdisciplinary and a scientifically based OR management in the future, innovative optimization strategies can be developed and advanced organizational perspectives may be addressed. The interdisciplinary approach leads to a future-oriented contribution to the economic adjustment of the entire hospital organization.