After exploring internal concerns of spine and neurosurgeon caseloads in February, Seattle-based Swedish Health is largely prohibiting physicians from performing overlapping surgeries, The Seattle Times reports.
Here are five things to know:
1. The new policy comes after collecting input from physicians, nurses, experts and patients.
2. The internal data collected in February, showed surgeons regularly ran multiple operating rooms for hours at a time.
3. Under the new policy surgeons must be present for the substantial majority of each surgical procedure. However, surgeons are not required to be present for the very end of the case.
4. Staff will now be responsible for documenting the times surgeons enter and exit the operating room.
5. Federal guidelines allow the practice of overlapping surgery, although Medicare requires surgeons to be present for the critical portion of the case.