Obstetric operating room staffing and operating efficiency using queueing theory.

Abstract

Strategies to achieve efficiency in non-operating room locations have been described, but emergencies and competing priorities in a birth unit can make setting optimal staffing and operation benchmarks challenging. This study used Queuing Theory Analysis (QTA) to identify optimal birth center operating room (OR) and staffing resources using real-world data.Data from a Level 4 Maternity Center (9,626 births/year, cesarean delivery (CD) rate 32%) were abstracted for all labor and delivery operating room activity from July 2019-June 2020. QTA has two variables: Mean Arrival Rate, ? and Mean Service Rate µ. QTA formulas computed probabilities: P0?=?1-(?/ µ) and Pn?=?P0 (?/µ)n where n?=?number of patients. P0…n is the probability there are zero patients in the queue at a given time. Multiphase multichannel analysis was used to gain insights on optimal staff and space utilization assuming a priori safety parameters (i.e., 30 min decision to incision in unscheduled CD;?=?5 min for emergent CD; no greater than 8 h for nil per os time). To achieve these safety targets, a?

View details for DOI 10.1186/s12913-023-10143-0

View details for PubMedID 37875897

View details for PubMedCentralID 4524929