The expansion of non-operating room anesthesia services

The demand for non-operating room anesthesia (NORA) cases has been increasing over the past decade. Although operating room (OR) management literature has been well developed, the application of OR efficiency metrics to NORA has not been validated. Applying these metrics to NORA cases and analyzing the differences between OR cases may serve as the first step into understanding how to improve clinical productivity and efficiency of NORA workflows. In order to identify potential factors for these differences, this review looks at NORA distances, first case start delays/tardiness, equipment, and physician/scheduling efficiency. Anesthesiology groups, health care providers, and hospitalists will need to consider the strategic, operational, and tactical decisions involved in the management of NORA to appreciate this growing field.