Operating room cost awareness committee. A model for collaboration.

Kaiser Santa Rosa (KSRO), a small facility in the Kaiser Permanente health maintenance organization, was found to have an unfavorably high non-payroll cost per surgical hour as compared with other Kaiser facilities. An Operating Room Cost Awareness Committee was formed to address the problem and has now become a standing committee at KSRO. The committee is composed of surgeons, nurses, materiel management personnel and administrative representatives. Through a spirit of cooperation and the authority to approve and deny all OR supply requests, the committee has been able to bring its OR costs in line with other Kaiser facilities.