Home » OR Blind Spots Are Costing You—Here’s How to Fix Them

OR Blind Spots Are Costing You—Here’s How to Fix Them

|OR Optimization

By Ali Ekbatani, DO, MBA, EVP & American Group President, NAPA

Source: This was originally distributed in March 2025 as part of NAPA’s quarterly newsletter, The Anesthesia Impact Report.

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The operating room (OR) is a hospital’s economic and clinical cornerstone, yet decisions about its utilization are often driven by perception rather than data. When leaders rely on anecdotal feedback instead of objective analysis, inefficiencies persist, surgeon frustration escalates, and valuable OR time is left underutilized.

Surgeons are deeply committed to delivering the best care to their patients, and reliable access to OR time is essential. Yet hospital leaders frequently receive conflicting reports:

  • Surgeons insist they cannot get OR time and are considering taking cases elsewhere.
  • A walk through the perioperative suite reveals open rooms and available staff.

The disconnect creates uncertainty—what is really happening?

Without data-driven insights, these competing narratives make it difficult to allocate OR time efficiently. Precise OR utilization analytics eliminate the guesswork through key metrics such as:

  • First case on-time starts – Are delays pushing schedules back?
  • Turnover times – Are inefficiencies between cases creating bottlenecks?
  • Block utilization – Are surgeons fully using their scheduled time?
  • Case volume by specialty – Are some service lines over- or under-allocated?

By tracking and analyzing these factors, hospital leaders gain a clear picture of how their OR time is truly being used. This enables data-backed decisions that improve efficiency, ensure fair scheduling, and align resources with demand.

As your anesthesia partner, NAPA is here to help you leverage these insights. Through our robust data and analytics capabilities, we help you strengthen your OR strategy, optimize utilization, and drive your revenue and reputation in the market.

We look forward to continuing our collaboration, helping you cut through the noise with data-driven insights that empower effective perioperative decision-making. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your regional team or me—we’re here to support you in optimizing OR efficiency and strengthening your hospital’s performance.

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