Recent research reveals that surgeons who frequently switch between different organ transplant procedures have an impact on outcomes.
When transplant surgeons switched between organ types in consecutive surgeries, one-year mortality rates among patients increased by 14.8%.
This is according to the new research published in Nature Human Behaviour, which analysed over 300,000 transplant surgeries from 2007-19 and provides causal evidence that task switching can affect patient outcomes.
The findings suggest that scheduling and workflow changes could help reduce these risks – and the implications may extend beyond medicine.
Jiayi Liu, assistant professor in the Pamplin College of Business Department of Business Information Technology, said: ‘We were surprised by how large the effect was – the performance gap from a single switch was comparable to a meaningful share of the experience gap between newer and more seasoned surgeons.’
Liu’s research found that not all switches were equally costly. The penalty was negligible when surgeons switched between similar procedures, but increased sharply when the switch required a fundamentally different surgical approach.
Liu said: ‘Most schedules are organised by urgency or convenience, but our findings suggest a more effective principle: grouping tasks by cognitive similarity and giving surgeons longer stretches of focused time on one type.’
The study also found that recovery time matters. A one-day interval between procedures reduced the switching penalty, suggesting that recovery time helps surgeons reset before the next operation.
Liu added: ‘“We found a striking pattern. When a switch occurs on the same day, the mortality rate for those patients rises sharply: from about 4.5% to 7.2%. If you have even a night to rest between surgeries, the switching cost is much lower, and with two days in between, the effect is essentially gone.’
Switching costs were also influenced by a surgeon’s experience level. Liu found that surgeons with greater cumulative experience in a given organ type, as well as those who maintained a more balanced portfolio across multiple organ types, were less affected by switching. This suggests that both depth and breadth of experience may be protective when switching is unavoidable.
Technology may also help reduce switching costs. Scheduling tools, including those powered by artificial intelligence, could be designed to minimise high-risk transitions by spacing out resources and reducing overwork. Additionally, technology could serve as a buffer between surgeries – simulation platforms, such as virtual reality, can help surgeons refresh their procedural knowledge before entering the operating room.
