Central OH surgeons don't double-book, hospitals say

Patients who go under the knife at central Ohio hospitals can expect that their surgeon will be present throughout the critical portions of their procedures, officials say. But that isn't always the case elsewhere. The Dispatch surveyed local hospitals to see whether any of them regularly or occasionally schedule surgeries concurrently, meaning that the same physician is taking part in overlapping procedures occurring in separate operating rooms. The Boston Globe recently investigated the practice, which occasionally happens at the prestigious Massachusetts General Hospital, leading to some internal criticism that patient safety in such cases might be taking a back seat to expediency and the bottom line.