Análisis de tiempos y movimientos en el proceso administrativo de cirugías programadas de un hospital de segundo nivel de la ciudad de Quito

Abstract

The present analysis aimed to study the times and movements involved in the scheduled surgery process of a hospital in the city of Quito, with the purpose of identifying activities that do not add value to the process. A descriptive and quantitative study was carried out, based on a sample of 207 surgeries performed during the first quarter of the year across different specialties. Relevant variables such as age, sex, and patient care shifts were taken into consideration. With the help of quality tools such as the Pareto diagram, control charts, and the Ishikawa diagram, it was determined that the stage with the greatest impact in terms of time is the patient's stay prior to surgery, with an average duration of 4 hours and 47 minutes. However, this extended time is primarily due to arthroplasties and hysterectomies—procedures belonging to the specialties of traumatology and gynecology, respectively—which, due to their specific clinical characteristics, significantly increase the average time. Therefore, these procedures were excluded from the analysis, as they are surgeries in which no optimization is feasible. As a result, the new average time for this stage was 3 hours and 27 minutes. Finally, the analysis focused on three specific specialties (general surgery, gynecology, and urology), as these concentrate the highest amount of time in this part of the process.