Table 1

Definition of concepts

ConceptDefinition
IntegrationThe coordination and alignment of tasks, thus achieving “unity of effort among the various subsystems in the accomplishment of the organization's task” (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967a, b, p. 4)
DifferentiationThe “state of segmentation of the organizational system into subsystems” (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967, pp. 3–4)
Social network analysis
NodeAn agent
TieA communication link between two agents via email, text message, telephone or face-to-face
CliqueA set of agents who are all connected to one another
DensityThe number of ties a set of agents has in relation to the number of possible ties they can have
Clique overlapThe percentage of agents who are members of more than one clique for a specific task
DegreeThe number of ties of one agent
Betweenness centralityThe number of times a node (agent) lies on the shortest path between other nodes (agents)
Rules and coordination mechanisms
RuleA defined, accepted or agreed way of performing tasks, which includes what is done, how it is done and what is allowed and what is not allowed
Mutual adjustmentAn agent interacts with other agents about a rule, i.e. what it entails or how to apply it in a specific situation or the application of the rule requires interaction
Direct supervisionA rule is set and monitored by people with formal authority
Standardization of work processesRules result from specified or programmed working processes
Standardization of outputRules include specified output in terms of predetermined standards for services or performance
Standardization of skillsRules include specified skills and knowledge
Standardization of normsRules result from a common culture or ideology and specify norms for behaviour
Performance indicators
Patient inflowThe number of surgery orders within a specified period
Number of surgeriesThe number of surgical cases performed
Number of elective/non-elective surgeriesThe number of planned/(semi-)urgent surgeries
Surgery timeThe time between starting a surgery, i.e. when patient positioning and/or skin preparation starts, to when the surgery is completed
Planned versus realized surgery timeThe difference between realized and planned surgery time
Overutilization operating room (OR)The total number of operating room days that finished after 4 pm divided by the total number of regular operating room days on which elective surgeries took place
Number of late operating roomsThe number of operating rooms that finish after 4 pm.
CancellationsThe number of cancelled surgeries
Waiting list lengthAverage number of weeks necessary for operating on all patients on the waiting list, given the number of OR sessions allocated to a medical discipline
OR session utilizationThe total amount of time surgical patients are present in the OR, divided by the amount of allocated OR session time. An OR session is a time slot that is allocated to a specific medical discipline on a specific weekday and OR.
OR utilizationThe total amount of time surgical patients are present in the OR during regular working hours between 8 am and 4 pm, divided by the total amount of OR time during these working hours (8 h)
Bed utilizationThe average number of beds used for a patient in a nursing department divided by the number of available beds
Number of bedsThe number of beds in the nursing departments
Variability OR utilizationThe degree to which OR utilization deviates from the average OR utilization
Variability OR session utilizationThe degree to which OR session utilization deviates from the average OR session utilization
Variability bed utilizationThe degree to which bed utilization deviates from the average bed utilization
Variability waiting list lengthThe degree to which waiting list length deviates from the average waiting list length

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