Becker’s Healthcare Podcast Improving Patient Access Through Data Driven OR Operations
Mar 11, 2026
Megan Eubanks, Senior Director of Perioperative and Procedural Services at The University of Kansas Health System, leads OR capacity and data-driven strategy. She discusses using AI and advanced analytics to uncover hidden capacity and guide real-time decisions. Topics include predictive tools vs raw EHR data, transparency and governance to boost throughput, and tactics that expanded surgical access and utilization.
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Resilience Equals Patient Access Not Just Efficiency
- Resilience in perioperative services equals sustained patient access under constraints.
- KUHS focused on matching surgical demand to available time to keep access even during shocks like COVID.
Hidden OR Capacity Despite Full Schedules
- ORs looked 100% allocated on paper but actual utilization was ~50–55% revealing hidden capacity.
- Megan Eubanks discovered late block releases and lack of operational translation of Epic data drove poor patient access despite apparent full schedules.
Convert Epic Data Into Operational Signals
- Turn raw Epic data into actionable signals rather than raw reports.
- Use tools like LeanToss to predict booking likelihood and alert surgeons to release or fill time in real time.