We developed a relief strategy for assigning second-shift anesthetists to l
ate-running operating rooms. The strategy relies on a statistical method wh
ich analyzes historical case durations available from surgical services inf
ormation systems to estimate the expected (mean) remaining hours in cases a
fter they have begun. We tested our relief strategy by comparing the number
of hours that first-shift anesthetists would work overtime if second-shift
anesthetists were assigned using our strategy versus if the anesthesia coo
rdinator knew in advance the exact amount of time remaining in each case. O
ur relief strategy resulted in 3.4% to 4.9% more overtime hours for first-s
hift anesthetists than the theoretical minimum, as would have been obtained
had perfect retrospective knowledge been available. Few additional staff h
ours would have been saved by supplementing our relief strategy with other
methods to monitor case durations (e.g., real-time patient tracking systems
or closed circuit cameras in operating rooms). Implications: A relief stra
tegy that relies only on analyzing historical case durations from an operat
ing room information system to predict the time remaining in cases performs
well at minimizing anesthetist staffing costs.