Takeaways from OR Manager Conference 2025, Anaheim

Conference insights and practical strategies for perioperative leaders

It has been a little over a week since OR Manager 2025 in Anaheim, and the dust has settled enough to see the signals.

Conversations on the floor kept circling the same themes: protect your people, tighten handoffs, and use software that removes friction in the moment.

We heard it at sessions, in hallway chats, and at our booth. The throughline was practical and human. Make the work easier so teams can focus on patients.

That is where IRIS fits, helping families stay informed and nurses remain present.

Quick take

The recent OR Managers conference in Anaheim reinforced a simple truth for perioperative leaders in 2025:

  • Stabilize the workforce
  • Make a few metrics visible
  • Standardize safer handoffs
  • Use software that removes friction at the point of care

The sessions leaned into ambulatory growth, leadership upskilling, best practices, and business and technology that support all three.

Workforce first

Recruitment and retention still decide your day. The rooms run more smoothly when people feel set up to succeed. In Anaheim, leaders kept coming back to the basics: remove daily friction, make expectations clear, and make the first week feel welcoming, not hazing. Think small and real. A clean locker. A working badge on day one. A buddy who answers the "dumb" questions. Preceptor pathways keep your best people teaching rather than firefighting, and travelers stick around when the playbook is clear. Start with a 15-minute weekly huddle, a simple escalation path that everyone actually uses, and a "day-in-the-OR" cheat sheet for new hires and travelers. When teams know what "good" looks like, they relax into it.

Three metrics everyone watches

Sophisticated dashboards are great. But the data that changes behavior is the stuff you can see at the workstation.

First case on-time starts
Turnover time
Block utilization

That is your scoreboard. Freeze those three for 90 days and review them the same way every week. Keep it short. Ask, "Where did we lose time, who owns the fix, what changes by next Tuesday?" No theatrics. One metric, one bottleneck, one owner. Do this long enough, and the "we should check on that" conversations turn into "we already did, here's the trend."

Ambulatory rigor, same safety bar

ASC volume keeps marching up, and with it comes the need for consistent reliability across settings. Time-outs should sound the same whether you are inpatient or down the street. Equipment readiness should not depend on who opened the case cart. Medication safety should read like a script. The winning teams set a single baseline and then improve from there. No drama, just discipline. Align policies, make checklists easy to find, and let frontline staff help you trim steps that don't add value. Variation drops, confidence grows, and patients feel that steadiness from pre-op through discharge.

Leadership as a practice

Leadership showed up as a daily habit, not a title. Emotional intelligence in challenging moments. Adaptability when plans shift at 6 a.m. Mentorship that grows confidence one conversation at a time. New leaders need a compass, not a lecture. Give them a 90-day plan with clear competencies and a real person to call when they get stuck. Experienced leaders need the air cover to coach, not just fill gaps. Try a monthly roundtable with one skill, one story, and one script you can use tomorrow. Keep it honest. Share misses as well as wins. The culture gets sturdier when people see leaders learning out loud.


Where software actually helped

The pattern was clear: tools that cut phone tag, standardize updates, and close communication loops across OR, PACU, sterile processing, and families. When information moves faster than questions, care teams stay focused and families stay calm.

Key Benefits

  • Family updates lower anxiety and interruptions. Standardized, real-time messages to loved ones reduce inbound calls and keep nurses off the phone.
  • Shared status boards prevent duplicate effort. When everyone trusts the exact source of truth, five people stop making the same check-in call.
  • Small data, big signal. Put the few metrics that matter right in the workspace, and decisions get easier.

The role of IRIS

IRIS gives perioperative teams a fast, consistent way to send updates through the surgical journey without adding another inbox to manage. Standard scripts tie messages to milestones. Custom messages help staff reduce family member anxiety when unexpected changes occur. Two-way communication makes family members feel heard, leading to greater patient satisfaction. The result is fewer interruptions for nurses, less anxiety for families, and tighter coordination across perioperative areas.

Final word: Takeaways for the year ahead

If OR Managers had a headline, it would be this: win by making the work easier.

The ORs that will stand out in 2025 are not the ones chasing the most features or the flashiest tools. They are the ones that protect their people, publish a few clear numbers, tighten handoffs, and choose software that removes friction in the moment.

IRIS fits that playbook. It helps your teams communicate more easily and helps families feel connected without constant interruptions. That combination builds trust, reduces noise, and gives leaders the space to improve the next thing on the list.

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