How to reduce non-urgent surgical waiting times in Spain by going digital

Spain's healthcare system is under pressure. Non-urgent surgical waiting times are on average 112 days, with 17.4% of patients waiting over six months.

The Hub's member Open Medical, a healthtech company focused on optimising clinical workflows, believes one of the most overlooked pressure points is also one of the most fixable: preoperative assessment.

In response to long waiting times, strategies like increasing operating room hours or outsourcing to private hospitals are being explored. But preoperative assessment—often still done on paper—is a critical step that can quickly become a bottleneck, wasting time and increasing risk.

This step is essential. It determines whether a patient is ready for surgery, flags risks early, and gives clinicians time to optimise patients to prevent complications, cancellations, or delays.

One hospital in England recently tackled this exact problem using Open Medical's digital solution. They went from paper to digital with a platform designed to work the way clinicians do.

Why paper-based care processes no longer work

As surgical cases become more complex, so do the demands on preoperative teams.

One UK hospital saw a dramatic rise in high-complexity patients—93% now fall into medium- or high-risk complexity. Before the pandemic, 25% of their patients were low complexity, but now it's fallen to 7%.

With more complex patients comes the need for faster triage, tighter coordination, and constant access to reliable information. But with paper, forms go missing. Notes are hard to read. Key details are scattered or incomplete. That leads to last-minute assessments, unnecessary duplication, and preventable cancellations.

Paper processes for healthcare today are no longer viable.

A digital workflow that mirrors clinical reality

Faced with these problems, the hospital implemented Pathpoint ePOA, Open Medical's digital platform purpose-built for preoperative workflows.

Instead of static paper forms, clinicians now use structured, dynamic digital workflows. The interface is intuitive; it flows with the logic of clinical thinking rather than forcing users to adapt to clunky tech. Early screening questionnaires are automatically sent to patients as soon as they're added to the waiting list and based on their responses, the system calculates risk scores so that clinical teams can prioritise effectively. It also tracks every case along the workflow, so everyone from admissions to anaesthetists knows exactly where each patient is in their pathway.

Going digital gives you more time with patients

One of the biggest benefits of going digital with Pathpoint ePOA by Open Medical was shared visibility. Everyone involved in pre-operative care could finally access the same up-to-date information at the same time.

It improved communication, streamlined triage, and created more capacity. The hospital is conducting 25% more preoperative assessments per week compared to when they weren't using Pathpoint ePOA, and with earlier screening and better coordination, the hospital opened up a 35-day window to optimise patients before surgery. For increasingly complex cases, that time can make the difference between safe surgery and cancellation.

The clinical team gained more time, being able to see more patients and ensure everyone is on the same page, patients are ready for their surgery and all clinical teams involved know exactly what is happening and when. That equates to a more efficient patient flow with fewer delays and cancellations and a better patient experience.

Reducing non-urgent surgical waiting times in Spain

Preoperative assessment is one of the best places to start tackling the waiting lists. It's a clinical checkpoint that touches every surgical patient. Improving it has ripple effects across the whole care pathway.

Going digital works, and when the tools are designed with clinicians in mind, efficiency gains are even greater. In a high-pressure healthcare environment, the right digital solution doesn't just make things easier; it creates space to do what matters the most: delivering safe, timely, and direct patient care.

Click here to find out more about Pathpoint ePOA by Open Medical.