Managing the OR: Tools, resources and guidelines to effectively manage operative suites

Author's Biography

Michael D. Pederson , MBA, is an operations administrator in the Southwest Minnesota region of Mayo Clinic Health System, supporting multiple surgical specialities across the region. Pederson holds a bachelor of science in finance as well as a master of business administration (MBA) with an emphasis on data analytics.

Andrew S. Abildgaard , MBA, is an operations administrator for surgical speciality departments in the Southwest Minnesota region for Mayo Clinic Health System. He has 14 years of healthcare experience. Scott has been with Mayo Clinic Health System for 16 months. Scott holds an MBA with an emphasis on healthcare management.

Sherry M. Caplan , MSN, RN, is a Vice Chair of Administration, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mankato, Minnesota. Sherry started her career as a registered nurse and has over 25 years of healthcare experience. She received a bachelor of science in nursing from Viterbo University and a master of science in nursing administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. In the past 17 years, Sherry has held progressive leadership roles throughout the practice, including ambulatory, inpatient and surgical settings. In her current role as Vice Chair of Administration for the surgical practice, one of her responsibilities is to lead her operations team along with her physician and nursing partners to ensure the operating suites are utilised at maximum efficiency.

Ginger H. Krings , RN, MHA, is an operations manager supporting multiple surgical speciality practices for the Mayo Clinic Health System in the Southwest Minnesota region. Ms Krings holds a bachelor of science nursing degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and master of health administration from the University of South Dakota. She has worked for Mayo Clinic Health System for 18 years, having been in leadership over the last eight years, five of which were as an ambulatory nurse manager for surgical practices.

Tara C. Krosch , MD, is a Vice Chair of Clinical Practice — surgical specialties and a consultant in the Department of General Surgery, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mankato, Minnesota. Dr Krosch has eight years of service with the Mayo Clinic Health System. She is an assistant professor of surgery at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and instructor in advanced trauma life support for Mayo Clinic. In her role as a Vice Chair of Clinical Practice, Dr Krosch oversees all aspects of the surgical practice in the Southwest Minnesota region and leads integration and practice transformation efforts in alignment with Mayo Clinic surgical practice strategies. She also serves as cancer liaison physician for the Mayo Clinic Health System Cancer Committee and chair of the Cancer Committee regionally and dedicates additional time to chair of physician compensation for the Southwest Minnesota region. Dr Krosch is active with the American College of Surgeons, serving as chair for Committee on Applicants in Minnesota. She holds a board certification from the American Board of Surgery and practises in general and breast surgery.

Lindsay E. Linder , MBA, is an operations administrator supporting multiple surgical speciality practices in the Southwest Minnesota region of Mayo Clinic Health System. She has ten years of service with the Mayo Clinic Health System. She is also an instructor in healthcare administration at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Lindsay holds a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis on organisation and individual development.

Stephanie A. Loeffler , MHA, is an operations administrator for surgical speciality departments in the Southwest Minnesota region for Mayo Clinic Health System. She has been with Mayo Clinic Health System in a variety of leadership roles for 18 years. Stephanie has a master’s degree in healthcare administration.

Jennifer L. Mueller , MBA, is the operations manager for practice analytics, supporting data needs for leaders in the Southwest Minnesota region. Jennifer holds an MBA and has had a 21-year-long career in data analytics and forecasting, with experience in manufacturing and healthcare industries.

Travis C. Paul is an instructor of healthcare administration at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and currently serves as regional chair of administration. In this capacity, Travis is responsible for administrative direction and oversight of the Southwest Minnesota region of the Mayo Clinic Health System, which includes 5 hospitals, 22 clinics and over 3,500 employees across southern Minnesota. He graduated with a bachelor of arts nursing degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and received his MBA from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Travis is also a silver-level Mayo Clinic Quality Fellow. He has nearly 28 years of progressive healthcare experience at Mayo Clinic, including 20 years of leadership experience. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Pawan Bhandari , PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Manufacturing Engineering Technology at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota. He earned a BS and MS in manufacturing engineering technology from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota, and a PhD in technology management (Quality Systems) from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana. Prior to joining academia, Pawan worked as a principal health systems engineer at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, where he provided end-to-end consulting to internal clients between department, region and enterprise levels. He was also an instructor in healthcare systems engineering at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic in 2013, he worked as a manufacturing engineer. Pawan is a professional member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and IEOM. He is also an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and ASQ Certified Quality Improvement Associate. His research interests are quality and process improvement, technology management, quality systems, performance improvement in healthcare and applied business analytics, which includes machine learning, artificial intelligence and data science.

Gokhan Anil , MD, is Chair of Clinical Practice and a consultant in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mayo Clinic Health System, Mankato, Minnesota. Dr Anil has 15 years of service with the Mayo Clinic Health System. He is also an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. In his role as a regional chair of clinical practice, Dr Anil oversees all aspects of the practice in Southwest Minnesota and leads integration and practice transformation efforts in alignment with Mayo Clinic strategies. He is also the medical director for Mayo Clinic Health System Digital Practice Enablement. Dr Anil holds board certification from the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ABOG) and is a female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery specialist. He is also certified in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.