Whether merging hospital campuses, expanding a clinic, or setting up an ASC, data-driven insights are key to adapting and optimizing processes. Dr. Miguel Afonso illustrates this approach in his decision to expand his clinic with a private gastroclinic.

At The Surgery Center of Lynchburg, Dr. Peter Caprise reduced hip replacement instrument trays from 8–9 to 5 per case, cutting sterile processing costs by $40,300 annually while streamlining workflows, easing staff workload, and improving sustainability.

At Herz Jesu Hospital in Vienna, Dr. Sekyra has performed over 700 robot-assisted knee replacements. With DEO.care’s digital twin analysis, her workflow proved just as efficient as conventional surgery while improving precision, ergonomics, and team wellbeing.

At Pius Hospital Oldenburg, robotic-assisted knee surgery delivers precision, efficiency, and education. DEO.care’s digital twin confirmed a streamlined workflow. Five replacements are completed before 2:30 PM, with reduced staff workload and consistent outcomes. Together, these factors set a benchmark for surgical performance.

Dr. Christophe Olyslaegers, Orthopedic Surgeon at GZA St. Augustinus in Belgium, shares how dedicated surgical teams, team-led initiatives, and standardized processes improve OR efficiency and collaboration. He also highlights the vital role of data in identifying improvements that save time and streamline workflows.

Kurt Hertogs, CEO of AZ Monica’s Orthopedic Focus Clinic, highlights how data can unite surgeons, staff, and management to drive meaningful change. By quantifying OR performance, data builds trust, empowers teams, and creates a foundation for business cases that support sustainable improvements in hospital operations.

Noorderhart Hospital, supported by Vlaanderen Circulair, optimized surgical trays to cut sterilization costs by 50% (€56,500 annually), streamline workflows, reduce staff workload, and improve sustainability. This is an excellent example showcasing how regional collaboration drives circular healthcare innovation.

At the EFORT 2023 symposium in Vienna, global experts shared how data and team alignment are key to achieving operational excellence in the OR. Discussions highlighted the importance of linking people and processes, using process digital twins to simulate improvements, and building data-driven business cases for new workflows and technologies.

Process digital twins use AI-driven simulations to map OR workflows, identify inefficiencies, and test improvements without costly trial and error. By capturing granular data from just a handful of surgeries, hospitals can boost throughput, reduce variability, align teams, and support continuous improvement.

Rising costs and staff burnout make data-driven decision-making essential for operating rooms. By using process digital twins to simulate workflows, hospitals can test improvements virtually, align stakeholders, and build compelling business cases.

Operating rooms drive both revenue and costs, making efficiency critical to hospital performance. Key metrics, such as standardization, consistency, parallel processing, and optimal use of staff and materials, help identify improvement opportunities. Even small process changes, like parallelizing preparation steps, can reduce variability, save time, and boost OR throughput.

Activity-based costing links OR costs directly to resource use, giving hospitals clearer insights to cut expenses, benchmark performance, and justify investments. Using this approach, hospitals have achieved up to 8% annual cost savings while freeing OR capacity.

Improving operating room efficiency is about more than increasing surgical volume. It impacts staff well-being, hospital finances, and patient satisfaction. By broadening the focus beyond surgical time to include setup, breakdown, resource use, and team ergonomics, hospitals can uncover opportunities to streamline workflows, reduce costs, and create a healthier, more sustainable work environment.