Becker's ASC Review

68 HEALTHCARE NEWS 68 'The opportunities are limitless': How OR 'black boxes' are changing the way hospitals operate By Mariah Taylor O perating room "black boxes" are growing in popularity as a way to improve patient safety and operational efficiency — and it likely will not be long before they spread to other departments. Currently, 24 hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe are using the technology. "Black boxes" — named aer the recording devices on airplanes — were developed by Surgical Safety Technologies in Toronto. ey gather video, audio, patient vital signs and data from surgical devices during procedures. "e opportunities are somewhat limitless," Christopher Mantyh, MD, professor of surgery and chief quality officer for the department of surgery at Durham, N.C.-base Duke University Hospitals, said. "is is the way you improve your quality and operation. We want to look at videos where everything goes really well so we can emulate that in other rooms." Becker's connected with surgeons from Mayo Clinic and Duke University Hospitals to talk about how the technology has created opportunities in their operating rooms. Improving OR efficiency Duke University Hospitals has used the technology for two years in two of its ORs. e black box system is always on — even when no one is in the room — which helped Duke improve patient care, turnover time and rearrange operating rooms for efficiency. "When we look at the black box, we figure out exactly the right position to put everything: Where should the nurses and surgeons stand? Where do we put the trays? Where do the robot arms go?" Dr. Mantyh said. "We take an ergonomic look at everything, even the mopping, and make the room more efficient. It's the same for our laparoscope equipment, which hangs on booms. We can look at the videos and say, 'Maybe we should have the boom on the le side instead of the right.' Or, 'the anesthesia machine might be getting in the way.'" Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has seen similar improvements in its operating rooms since installing the technology in September 2021. e black boxes in three of its ORs helped leadership identify key pieces of equipment that were taking too long to reach at critical moments. e fix: Move it closer and make it more accessible. Making the OR more efficient with its equipment is only the start of improvements. "ere have been a lot of positive changes around teamwork and team function and how we respond to things," Sean Cleary, MD, a surgical oncologist at Mayo Clinic, said. "When we have something happen in the operating room and the team's able to respond to a change in plan and done so smoothly and efficiently, we can now characterize that." e future of black boxes Duke is already planning to roll out black boxes into more rooms, and Dr. Mantyh has his eyes on getting the technology into other departments. Image Credit: UT Southwestern Medical Center

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