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The Safe OR Design Tool supports clinicians, designers, and researchers in better understanding how to design a safer more ergonomic OR.

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Overview

The OR is a complex and dynamic system where highly skilled clinical teams interface with a myriad of technologies, equipment and critical care process. As part of the OR work system, the built environment can be a crucial component in helping mitigate adverse outcomes, such as surgical site infections, task disruptions, and staff injury by minimizing hazards and supporting safe work practices. The Safe OR Design Toolis grounded in the work that has been conducted by a multidisciplinary research team at Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina over the last four years as part of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funded Patient Safety Learning Lab (PSLL) titled Realizing Improved Patient Care through Human-Centered Design in the Operating Room (RIPCHD.OR).The Safe OR Design Toolprovides an opportunity for multiple stakeholders to understand the implications of design on safety, specifically focusing on the OR environment. This tool supports an evidence-based approach to designing new or renovating existing ORs to support a safer, more ergonomic OR environment for patients and staff.

How the tool was developed

The design strategies included in the Safe OR Design Tool were developed based on an in-depth literature review as well as the findings from the RIPCHD.OR PSLL. The strategies were vetted by an expert panel comprising of 8 clinicians and 8 healthcare designers with extensive experience working in and designing OR environments through a three-stage modified Delphi process.

Who should use the tool

The Safe OR Design Toolwas developed to engage multidisciplinary design teams comprised of clinicians, designers, and researchers in a more collaborative design process when designing OR environments, and to provide a comprehensive understanding of how different design elements impact safety in the OR using a systems approach. This tool can also support multiple stakeholders in understanding how the built environment can be leveraged to increase safety in the OR.

Why use the tool

Multidisciplinary design teams may find this tool helpful for implementing design strategies into the design or redesign of a new or existing OR to support targeted outcomes such as improve visual and information awareness, improve movement and flow, and reduce disruptions. Additionally, this tool could be used to conduct post-occupancy evaluations of existing ORs to determine design interventions that could be implemented to increase patient and staff safety within the OR environment.

What’s in the tool

The interactive web-based tool provides an opportunity to interact with components in an OR environment through a 3D model. The web interface also allows users to explore design strategies and their associated desired outcomes for a series of design elements commonly found in OR environments. Additionally, users of the tool may filter design strategies by the type of strategy it is within the work system and access citations associated with each design strategy. The Safe OR Design Toolcontains the following components:

Design Elements: A series of 14 design elements provide a focused platform for accessing design strategies and desired outcomes for commonly found features within the OR environment.
Design Strategies: These actionable statements provide guidance on how to implement a design strategy into the OR environment to support a desired outcome.
Rationale: An associated description is provided for each design strategy addressing why that specific strategy is important to consider based on current literature or PSLL findings.
Desired Outcomes: Desired outcomes that have been linked with evidence to the associated design strategy are provided to address how the design strategy can improve safety and quality in the OR.
Type of Evidence: The type of evidence, broken into 4 distinct categories, and full citation for each combination of design strategy and desired outcome is provided for users’ reference.
Type of Strategy: Each design strategy is tagged to provide insight into which OR work system component is impacted by the associated design strategy. The following five types of strategies are included in this tool: People, Task, Organization, Technology, and the Built environment.