Architecture and information technology as factors in surgical suite information sharing and coordination

  • Authors:

  • Peter Scupelli;Susan R. Fussell;Sara Kiesler

  • Affiliations:

  • Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 1st ACM International Health Informatics Symposium
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

Scheduling surgeries in hospitals is one of the most challenging activities for surgical staff. Schedule changes occur as often as every few moments, affecting necessary coordination of tasks, resources, and people within and across staff groups, and the stress people feel. In prior fieldwork at four sites, we observed that the physical layout of hallways and rooms, and barriers and spaces around schedule displays and key coordinators, affected information sharing and coordination of the surgery schedule. To generalize beyond the sites studied, we conducted a survey of 135 surgical suite directors across the USA. Our findings suggest how the architecture of the physical space and information availability and practices influence information sharing and coordination outcomes. Visual access between the shared surgery schedule display and the nursing control desk influenced whether staff groups congregated around schedule boards. Traffic-free areas around the surgery schedule display and up-to-date surgery schedule display information reduced coordination stress. We discuss implications for information practices and new information technology in hospital settings.