How do you measure the health of your surgical pipeline?
If you work for a large surgical center, you might have a dedicated team that tracks key performance indicators (KPIs). If you’re part of a smaller practice, you might track surgery KPIs yourself—or not at all.
If you’re part of the second camp, you’re in good company: Most practices don’t have a reliable way to track this stuff. The data lives in a million different places. It isn’t structured, it never gets updated and it’s probably incomplete. In fact, a KPMG report found that only 10% of healthcare organizations are using advanced tools for data collection.
The problem is, you can’t fix what you can’t see. If you’re not tracking the right surgery KPIs, you can’t be certain what’s slowing you down or costing you money.
Sound familiar? No need to worry. We’ve put together a list of the top six surgical practice metrics to start tracking today—plus tips on how to track them effectively.
Surgery KPI #1: Volume by location and provider
This one is basic, but it’s among the most important. If you don’t monitor volume closely, it’s easy to miss reg flags—such as a dip in conversions, a slowdown in traffic or an underutilized surgical block.
By regularly monitoring these surgery KPIs, you can be more proactive in addressing threats to your surgical business. Having the data on hand also gives you leverage when making strategic decisions, like forecasting resources or advocating for more OR time.
- What “good” looks like: 75-85% utilization is considered the “sweet spot.”
- How often to pull the data: Bi-weekly. Patterns matter more than isolated blips.
Surgery KPI #2: Cancellation rate
Even just one canceled surgery can cost your practice more than $4,500. Last-minute cancellations are especially damaging, as they erode block time, hurt surgeon satisfaction and worsen patient outcomes.
Indeed, cancellations are inevitable. But many are avoidable. That’s why it’s crucial to keep tabs on your average surgery cancellation rate to monitor change over time—and to determine whether you’re dealing with a temporary blip or a worsening problem.
- What “good” looks like: Varies by specialty and procedure type. Under 14% is a starting point.
- How often to pull the data: Monthly. (More often if you’re seeing unusual volume swings.)
Surgery KPI #3: Cancellation reasons
Alright, so you’ve done the legwork to determine how many surgeries are getting canceled. Now, it’s time to figure out why.
Logging the reason for cancellation can help you identify and address persistent issues in your workflow—such as authorization delays, scheduling errors or poor patient prep. If you’re seeing a high volume of patient-initiated cancellations, consider following up with those patients to log the reason (and get their surgery back on the books.)
- What “good” looks like: More unavoidable cancellations than avoidable ones.
- How often to pull the data: Monthly. Increase frequency if you see a sudden spike.
Surgery KPI #4: Time from consult to scheduled date
The longer it takes to get a surgery booked, the less likely it is to happen. Paperwork gets delayed, coordinators forget to follow up, and patients turn elsewhere to get the care they need.
By measuring the average time to book surgery (between surgical recommendation and scheduled date), you’ll be able to flag bottlenecks early and see patients sooner. You’ll also safeguard your organization’s reputation and minimize referral leakage.
- What “good” looks like: <7 days from consult to confirmed case.
- How often to pull the data: Monthly. Look for trends across payers and/or procedure types.
Surgery KPI #5: Pre-op readiness rate
Even when a surgery is scheduled, it’s not a done deal unless the patient is fully prepped. Missing clearances, unsigned consents or incomplete instructions can derail a case at the last minute.
To reverse that trend, it’s important to establish a baseline so you know where your practice stands today. Start tracking how many patients are fully prepped on their surgery date, versus how many patients get rescheduled due to a missed or overlooked step.
What “good” looks like: 95% or higher readiness rate
How often to pull the data: Weekly to spot process gaps across locations or staff members.
Surgery KPI #6: OR block time utilization
OR time is expensive. In fact, just one minute costs $37 on average, according to a JAMA Surgery study. And if your blocks aren’t being used efficiently, you may risk losing them.
That’s why it’s worth tracking how much OR time is booked versus unused across all locations and providers. In doing so, you can flag issues early, avoid wasted revenue and ensure you’re hitting your OR utilization benchmarks.
- What “good” looks like: 75-85% utilization is considered the “sweet spot.”
- When to pull the data: Bi-weekly, but employ quarterly reviews for deeper strategic planning.
What if I don’t know how to track surgery KPIs?
We hear you. Keeping tabs on surgical practice metrics can sound overwhelming, especially if your data lives in a dozen different places (or nowhere at all). Rest assured, you’re not alone, and you don’t have to figure it out from scratch.
Surgimate helps 1,800+ surgeons nationwide consistently track surgery KPIs. Our platform centralizes your case data and makes it easy to pull the reports you actually need. That means your surgeons can focus on what they do best: Getting patients the care they need.
Learn how Surgimate can help you consistently and reliably track surgery KPIs.
