When a surgical case is performed by more than one surgeon, how should credit be divided among surgeons for purposes of calculating their operating room utilizations?

Our software attributes the case to the surgeon with the longer incision to closure time, as an arbitrary but systematic approach. Nevertheless, this is a minor issue when OR time is allocated correctly, as the process should have a negligible, if any, impact on appropriate OR allocations. When allocating OR time operationally (i.e., adjusting staffing to match existing workload), the problem is best avoided by applying good statistical analysis whose results are insensitive to how the case is attributed. The allocation of OR time to individual surgeons is highly sensitive to changes in data, making forecasts unreliable statistically (click here for the abstract or click here for the full article).  more