Knee/Hip Data Surgical Procedure Data Collection

Overview

Smeal College of Business supported the project to conduct time derived activity-based costing studies on knee and hip arthroplasties. The knee and hip arthroplasties or replacements were performed at Hershey Medical Center, where teams had a chance to observe the processes in pre-op, intra-op, and post-op. However, the operational expenses fluctuate and there is no current standard for calculating the cost of an operation, given these fluctuations. Our task was to create a way to standardize this process through the data collection and process mapping of these surgeries. Between the two teams, around 20 surgeries were observed before COVID-19 caused a cancelation of site visits.

Objectives

– Gain full understanding of the processes for a knee or hip arthroplasty, in the pre-op, intra-op, and post-op

– Work with team 1 to develop a data collection sheet to ensure uniformity in time studies

– Collect time studies on processes and personnel on monthly hospital site visits to streamline the process for calculating the cost of the elective surgeries.

Approach

– Identify and purchase necessary equipment for data collection

– Conduct monthly site visits to Hershey Medical Center

– Perform time studies to collect pre-op, intra-op, and post-op time data

– Participate in weekly advisor and sponsor meetings to discuss project status and future steps

– Improve existing time collection sheets for all main phases of the surgical process

– Develop a transition document to aide future teams with current progress made

Outcomes

– Create a master data sheet with all collected data points for process times, personnel times, and nurse reported times

– Create process maps outlining the phases of knee and hip surgeries: pre-op, intra-op, and post-op

– Finalize data collection sheets to ensure uniformity for future teams to use

– Work with graduate students and other undergraduate students to continue the project with the goal of receiving a P3 Grant