Lindsay- very interesting project, I enjoyed reading it through as a non-surgeon who had not even thought about this issue. The cost savings potential seems like a clear "win."
I am curious as a non-surgeon who is responsible for OR turnover- is it the surgeon, anesthesia, or OR staff. You mention cases of individual surgeons who have been able to streamline turnover times, as well as lay out incentives for OR team members who turnover rooms (perhaps they are one in the same). This might affect what stakeholders you approach or the make up of that team you propose in phase 1.
I am also curious about the major drivers for variations in OR turnover times- is it physician preference/timing, case complexity, quality/safety assurance? Sarah mentioned that "never events" are a quality metric in ORs- does reducing OR turnover time have impact on risk of "never events" or risk of decreasing quality through errors in preparation/equipment checks?
Finally, i'm assuming each institution/hospital has their own OR culture and that will lead to development of 'best practices'- are their published evidence/guidelines on how to make turnover time more efficient that can act as a starting point for UCSFs efforts? you mentioned 6 sigma approach at one institution, and there may be other anecdotal approaches-- i wonder if these cases form your "evidence" base for how UCSF will go about doing its own turnover program.