We used Lean and Six Sigma techniques to improve perioperative workflow for patients with epidurals, leading to an increase in the number of epidural infusions started in the operating room. This was associated with a concurrent decrease in opioid use that could be attributed to multiple initiatives taking place at UW at the same time.
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I hope that continuous quality improvement (CQI) techniques such as these provides more tools for anesthesiologists to combat the #opioidepidemic #opioidcrisis, much of it being born out of chronic pain and opioid use after and in-between surgeries.
But more importantly, a call of encouragement for academicians in the private practice field who want use to continue to publish and push their fields forward in settings where evidence-based practices aren't necessarily the norm.

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